Crocker's Haven
by crockergirl84
Summary: Duke Crocker gave his life to protect Haven after finally getting control of himself back. Now, as the Troubles are being pulled back into the Void, Duke is being resurrected... and finds himself on the Cape Rouge with two women he doesn't know. One will be his salvation, the other, will teach him a hard lesson. What will happen with Duke, the two women, and others in Haven?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

 **Hope:**

"Delia, help me. I can't lift him by myself," I said to my best friend.

Delia Hendrickson and I had just come to her hometown of Haven, Maine. Her only living relative, her twin brother, Dwight, thought she was dead. The only family I knew lived in Haven was who we were trying to lift from the ice cream truck. He was dead. Yes, we were stealing his body, but I needed to do what I came to Haven for and it was time sensitive. Not only that, if I didn't move his body his friends were planning on giving him a burial at sea.

"Remind me why we're doing this?" Delia asked.

"I need to time the ritual right. If it's done too soon or too late, the results could be catastrophic for the town… not to mention me."

She just looked at me and helped me move the body into the back seat of my SUV. From there, it took us a bit to figure out how to find his ship. Once we had him below decks in his bed in the state room, I prepared the body for the ritual while I had Delia clean up. When she came back, I took a shower and left her with the body, going up to the deck of the ship so I could make sure my timing was right. While I was up there, I started thinking about when I found out that I had a destiny to be here at this time, for this purpose.

" _Hope, dear, we need to talk," Grams said to me, sitting down on my bed._

 _Gramps came into the bedroom with her and sat at my desk. As a fourteen year old being raised by her grandparents, being approached by both of them made me wonder what kind of trouble they possibly could have found out I'd gotten into. I had just started my senior year of high school. Teenagers were jerks in general, but when you're the youngest in your class, you're the easiest target. I didn't always keep my calm._

" _What is it? Is something wrong?" I asked, trying to play innocent._

" _We need to tell you about your destiny, Hope. A destiny that your mother foresaw before you were born," Gramps replied._

" _Mom saw my future? Why haven't you told me this before?" I asked._

" _We wanted to give you time to grow into your own person, Hope. We wanted you to understand responsibility and caring before we tried to explain this to you," Grams said gently._

" _What did she see?"_

" _One day, she said you're the only one who will know when, you will leave us. You will leave us to find your brother…" Gramps started._

" _I have a brother? I thought I was Mom's only child," I said._

" _You are, Sweetie," Grams continued where I had cut Gramps off. "The brother you're meant to find is on your father's side. He's your older brother and he lives in a town called Haven, Maine. While Penny was pregnant with you she foresaw that one day you would leave Massachusetts for Maine because you will need to save your brother. She said that you will need to learn strong magick in order to do it, which is why we've always pushed you to advance in your magickal training harder than the others your age. We're not sure when you're going to go, and we want to give you as much magickal knowledge as we can in the time we have with you."_

 _I just looked at my grandparents for a minute. They had taken care of me since I was born. I could see it hurt them to know that one day I was destined to leave, they weren't getting any younger, after all. These two had loved me as their own child, taught me everything I knew about magick, taught me about my mother, taught me about my father and why my mother chose not to find and tell him she was pregnant, and dealt with a fairly headstrong child even though by the time I was ten they were in their sixties. They weren't trying to hurt me._

" _Do you know anything about how I'm supposed to help this brother?" I asked._

I noticed the sign I needed to look for that signaled the start of the time I needed to work with. I rushed back to the state room and began, asking Delia to keep physical contact with me the entire time to ground me. The ritual was tough, even though I had been taught all the elements I needed to perform it. I had just never performed it before. As I had been taught, I had also been warned this type of ritual took thorough concentration and preparation or else it could kill the person performing it.

As I focused on my objective, not sure of how long I had actually been working on my brother, I heard Delia gasp. Careful to continue concentrating on what I was doing, I opened my eyes and saw why she gasped. There were black orbs pouring from my brother's body, and I finally understood why the timing of the ritual needed to be so precise. The sign that I was to begin was a mass exodus of these black orbs to one point in town. I needed to run the ritual coinciding with that so that any of these orbs in my brother would also be pulled out of him.

My energy was ebbing away as I continued the ritual. I could feel his energy, feel it responding to mine. My energy was connecting to his because of our blood bond, but I was also pouring a lot of myself into him making sure the ritual a success. I didn't realize that I started drawing on my energy that had been in Delia since everyone thought she had died until I felt him start to wake. At this point, I had Delia let me go.

"What the hell is going on? Who the hell are the two of you? Why the hell are we on my boat? How the hell did I get onto my boat?" he asked in quick succession as the ritual completed and he woke.

As he sat up, startled and confused, blackness took over. I felt myself start to fall.

 **Duke:**

"Are you going to answer my questions? And what the hell just happened to her?" I asked the one woman who was still standing near my bed on the Cape Rouge.

"Fine, I'll answer most of your questions. Some, she needs to answer for herself. But can I please check on her, maybe leave her on your bed instead of the floor?"

"Do it," I said as I walked away looking for a bottle of bourbon.

A few minutes later, I sat at the table and gave this woman who had intruded on my boat a glass of bourbon as she sat down across from me.

"Thanks," she said before she drank some of the bourbon. "And thank you for letting me check her. I'm sure you're confused and trying to figure out what's going on."

"You're damn right about that. Let's start with you telling me who you are."

"My name is Delia Hendrickson. I was born here in Haven."

"Hendrickson? You don't mean Sasquatch… I mean Dwight Hendrickson's sister, do you?"

"Twin sister, but yeah."

"He said you're dead."

"Everyone thinks I am."

"Why aren't you?"

"For the same reason you're not. And the answer to that needs to come from the unconscious girl in your bed. I have a basic understanding, but I wouldn't be able to do any kind of justice to the explanation."

"So, before I ask about the boat, explain how the two of you remembered Haven if you were outside the shroud and how you got _through_ the shroud into Haven?"

"After I supposedly died, I spent a lot of time with some extraordinary people. They taught me a lot. But they could also guard against things. Knowing that she needed to be in Haven for you, I believe they ensured that no matter what else happened, it wasn't forgotten."

"And getting into town?"

"Complicated. She can answer that when she wakes up."

"So why my boat?"

"You know she brought you back from the dead."

"Yeah. Last thing I remember was Nathan killing me. Audrey comforting me while crying. Gloria and Vicky crying in another part of the room. We were at Haven P.D."

"That is why she needed to be in Haven. Apparently, a lot of preparation goes into something like that, so as she learned more about you, she decided when it was time, your boat would be the best place to take you. It would be the place that you had the most connection to, where your most sentimental objects would be kept. She felt it would make what she had to do easier."

"How long has she be learning about me?"

"I'm not sure. But she knew about you before I met her as an intern at the hospital. That was nine years ago."

"Nine years?"

"At least."

"Who is she?"

"This is as much as I can explain. She needs to explain everything else. It's all… _complicated_. Not to mention it's her story to tell, not mine."

With that, Delia got up to check her unconscious friend. I was looking for my cell phone. I wanted to call Nathan or Audrey.

"I wouldn't do that!" Delia shouted at me as I pulled my phone out of my pocket, where it was when I died.

"And why shouldn't I make a phone call?" I asked her as she approached me again.

"You were _dead_ , Duke. Not hurt, not unconscious, _dead_. Your friends all know you died. And since you've died, things have changed. I'm not exactly sure of the extent, but I know the Troubles are gone. I can feel that much. I don't feel like if I walk off this boat and someone shoots a gun the bullet will come straight for me. So _please,_ at least wait until she's woken up and gives you an explanation before you decide it's time to call in your friends?"

"How long do you think she's gonna be out?"

"I don't know. But she's got a little bit of color in her and her pulse is steadier than it was when I first checked on her," Delia replied, before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Technically, if you had something I could use as a smelling salt, I could wake her now. I'm not sure how long she'd stay up, but possibly long enough to answer your questions."

I started to think about what could be used as a smelling salt. Then I remembered what Julia Carr had told me out at Carpenter's Knot on Audrey's Birthday. Ammonia could act as a smelling salt. I raided my cleaning supplies and found something that had ammonia. I gave that and a cloth to Delia. She took it and went in to the woman she had avoided naming throughout our entire conversation.

 **Hope:**

There was a strong smell around me and I felt groggy. When I opened my eyes, Delia was standing over me with a cloth. I recognized the smell… ammonia. She had intentionally woken me after I collapsed. She helped me to sit up on the bed that someone had put me in.

"What happened?" I asked.

"He wants answers. He wants to call his friends. And he doesn't seem like he's going to let me keep stalling him for long."

I nodded at her and she slowly helped me to my feet and to an eating nook, where she slid me onto the bench seating before sitting next to me. Duke looked at the two of us and started walking towards us. I put my hand up.

"Before you sit, I think you should bring Roy Crocker's journal over here. I'll explain why as we talk," I said to him.

He looked at me with a mix of confusion and annoyance, but grabbed the journal before sitting down. He just kept it by him, out of mine and Delia's reach. That was fine by me. I didn't really want to touch that until necessary, knowing the type of energy it was connected to.

"So start explaining. A good starting point would be your name and why you've been researching me for at least nine years."

I took a deep breath. That one statement gave me a good idea of what Delia had told him while I was out cold. I felt her squeeze my hand. She knew the truth, just like I had known about her family Trouble.

"Fine, but give me Roy's journal. I need to find something in it, something that will help explain some of this. Then I'll give it back to you and trust me, I will _never_ ask to see that again unless it is a dire emergency."

Duke hesitated but handed me the journal. Not knowing where what I was looking for would be, I used a small spell that would open the journal to the exact entry I needed. Duke looked on with a mix of fascination and shock. The entry I needed was about "curing" the Tomlin family, who had run from Haven in the early 80s, from their Trouble, which was the ability to act as a grounding for electricity. They had run to Massachusetts.

"Now that you just did that interesting party trick, start explaining," Duke said.

"Alright, my name is Hope Corey. I'm a doctor from Danvers, Massachusetts. And the reason I've been researching as much as I could about you, Duke… it's because of this journal entry right here. In 1983, Simon Crocker hunted and "cured" the Tomlin family of their Trouble. On his way home, he had a one night stand with a woman named Penny who disappeared on him in the middle of the night. He didn't know it was because she had her own abilities that let her see the kind of man he really was. Regardless, In July of 1984, Penny died, right after she named me Hope and stroked my hair."

I gave Duke the journal back and he looked at the entry. After looking it over, he looked up at me. The shock on his face was clearly visible.

"Are you telling me you're my sister?"

"Yes, Duke. I am."

"My father never told me I had a younger sister."

"My mother and her family made sure that before Simon died he never found out about me. They were worried if he found out about the fact that I come from a line of witches on both sides of my mom's family, which can be traced back centuries, that he would come back and kill the entire family. But before, while my mom was pregnant, she saw me here in Haven, today, bringing you back. Her parents, who raised me since the day I was born, told me about this when I started my senior year of high school when I was fourteen."

"Wait a second, your mother was a witch who _saw_ what happened today what, in 1984?" Duke asked with doubt in his voice.

"Yes, she was. As are my grandparents and every generation in the family before me," I started as I took my butterfly bracelet off my wrist. "As am I."

I focused on the bracelet. The spell wasn't overly complicated. It was something I'd done at least a hundred times before, as I helped train the younger witches being initiated. But my energy was basically depleted and I was conscious solely because of the ammonia Delia used as a smelling salt. After a little over a minute, my bracelet turned _into_ a butterfly, which started flying around the boat. Everything started to spin a bit in my vision, but I had proven my point.

"Fine, let's say I'll take you at your word for being a witch. How do you know your mom and my dad…?"

"Because of my mother's abilities. When she slept with Simon that night she saw what the Crocker Curse made him, what he did to the Troubled. It's why she left before he woke up. My grandparents said that a few weeks later she told them about that night with him because she was scared. The future she had once seen for herself was gone."

"What do you mean, gone?"

"Before she slept with Simon, my mom knew she was meant to do things in her life, like she ultimately knew I was going to be needed to help you today. After they slept together, that future disappeared."

"Why?" Duke asked.

Delia squeezed my hand. She knew what happened to my mom.

"A few weeks after her future disappeared on her, she realized she was pregnant. _I_ was the reason she no longer had a future. My birth was what caused her death. After I was born, she wasn't even strong enough to hold me. Hence, she stroked my head and named me before she flatlined," I said, looking at my hands. "While she was pregnant, she looked into Simon, kept track of him and told my grandparents everything she could find out. They made sure he would never know I existed before he died. Since then, I've lived mostly happily in the Danvers area of Massachusetts until I came here to Haven for you, Duke. My grandparents prepared me for what I needed to do, and I decided it was time for Delia to tell her brother that I saved her from her Trouble killing her."

"How exactly did you do that?" Duke asked. "And why does Dwight still think she's dead?"

"She left a golem ridden with bullet holes and covered in about a pint of my blood in the morgue," Delia explained why her brother thought she was still dead. "Just in case the shooter was someone from here hunting the Troubled that were outside of Haven."

"Okay, that explains the cover-up, but how?" Duke asked again.

"I've known Delia for nine years now. The day everyone thought she died, I woke up with a bad feeling before my shift at the hospital. So I performed a powerful protection spell on her, one that would protect her from anything, even death."

"You can do that?"

I nodded at Duke.

"So when the shooter showed up and pulled out the gun, I knew what would happen. Delia had already told me about her family's Trouble. A doctor here in Haven named Gloria Verrano told her what happened to her brother and his daughter. I knew that the bullets were all going to hit Delia. So I made sure I was down in the morgue when she woke up. By the time she did, I had the golem ready, not active, but it looked and felt exactly like Delia. It would easily pass as her. The hospital contacted Dwight as soon as the chaos from the shooting died down, so I had to leave the golem as a decoy. Then I took her into hiding. I set her up in a place my family owns closer to the shore, in Salem, where she would be safe."

"Why did you hide her?"

"There was an equal chance the shooting was an attempt to draw me out as it was someone from here hunting the Troubled."

"What do you mean?"

"There really are witch hunters out there, Duke. And if they suspect someone is actually a witch, they will do something to force them into exposing themselves somehow… like what happened at the hospital. It could have been a ploy to expose any practicing witches and if they realized that I helped Delia get up and walk out of that hospital after the injuries she sustained… these hunters stalk their targets, track their families to see if it's a blood tie to the magick. If it is, they'll wipe out entire lines. If it's not, they'll take out their target and move on to the next."

"How do they know where to look for witches?"

"Believe it or not, most active, practicing witches are in the medical field. Most of us use our abilities to help others heal, not to hex and attack like so many people assume."

"So you couldn't hex someone if I asked?"

I gave a slight laugh.

"I didn't say I _couldn't_. It's just a matter of weighing the karmic costs. Everything we do comes at a cost, so ultimately I need to decide whether or not that hex is worth the price I'll pay for casting it."

The world tilted some more. I grabbed the table discreetly to steady myself. Delia started rubbing my back.

"So are you two lovers or something?" he asked.

"No," Delia replied to him. "Hope was one of my interns and we've become close friends. We look out for each other."

"How did you two get into Haven?" Duke asked me, letting the subject drop.

"The shroud of mist that was surrounding Haven? I don't know why, but I knew that _I_ could get through it. Maybe it's my connection to you, but I knew that myself and anything I was touching at the time I hit the shroud would safely cross into the town."

"Nobody else but me has been able to get in or out of Haven since the shroud went up. At least not without my assistance," Duke said. "Why did you have to be here today? Why was it so important?"

"The Troubles are gone, Duke. For good," I started. "It was important that my ritual be timed today because as I brought you back, the essence in you, what manifested the Troubles that were still inside you that had been collected, were pulled from your body as they were from every Troubled person before being taken back to where the essence originated from."

"Wait, so you're saying that _all_ of the Troubles I've collected, the Crocker Curse… it's all gone? It's never coming back?"

I nodded at him.

"That's why everything needed to be done with precision," I said.

He stared at me in shock.

"So I'm finally free of the family legacy. I never thought I'd see the day."

"Do you still want to call your friends right now? I mean, Hope did just overload you on information," Delia said.

 **Duke:**

"No, I need time to process this. Do you guys want to get out of Haven for the night? Not too far, we'll stay at a motel nearby, get cleaned up, eat, rest, and come back to face everyone tomorrow?" I asked.

"That sounds good to me," Delia said, before looking at Hope. "How about you?"

"Sounds fine. Whatever you guys want. I've done what I needed to for today," Hope said.

"Then let's go," I said before realizing I had no idea where my truck was. "Wait, how did you guys get to the Rouge?"

"My SUV. Why?" Hope answered.

"Because I don't know where in Haven my truck is. We're gonna have to take your ride."

Hope threw me her keys. Me and Delia got up before Hope slowly started to make her way to the end of the bench. The color that was in her complexion when she'd first come out was gone and she looked unsteady. Sure enough, as soon as she stood up, she collapsed into unconsciousness again.

"I guess you're carrying your long-lost baby sister to the car?" Delia asked.

"Is this normal?"

"She just used her energy, her _life force_ to resurrect you, then prove to you that she wasn't delusional about being a witch. The resurrection itself took a lot out of her. She actually started draining _my_ energy to do it. She needs rest, so this time, I'm not forcing her awake. We'll check into the motel, leave food and a note at her bedside, and go get food for ourselves. We let her sleep as long as she needs to."

"Wait, she used her own life force to fix me. Isn't that dangerous?"

"To someone who doesn't know what they're doing? It's fatal. But her grandparents and other magickal instructors have been teaching her all of the different components and facets of this ritual for 17 years. She was prepared on what needed to be done. She just never did it before."

"But she could have died trying to bring me back. Why do it? She doesn't know me."

"Hope has never had any tie to her father's side of the family. She doesn't show any emotional pain, but I'm sure it's there, having her mother die in childbirth and being hidden from her father and any siblings she had through him. Not to mention, if the universe decided she needed to be here to help you, there had to be some kind of greater purpose… even if none of us know it," Delia explained. "Let's go. The longer we hang around Haven, especially here at the marina, the better the chances are that someone will see us or we'll get picked up on one security cameras here. I think you're right, we should get outta dodge for the night, figure out how we're going to face the people we need to face, and _then_ come back to Haven."

I nodded at Delia as I easily lifted my long lost sister. She looked so fragile in my arms, but what she had done for me, and even what Delia said she had done for her were powerful things. As we got onto the docks, I noticed that the shroud was gone. Delia and Hope had told me the truth, everything tied to the Troubles was gone.

When Delia showed me to Hope's SUV I carefully put her in the backseat before getting behind the wheel and taking off. Not long after leaving Haven I checked us into a motel while Delia went to get Hope food in case she woke up and we weren't there. By the time she got back to me, I was pulling Hope out of the backseat to take her to one of the two rooms I'd paid for. I placed her gently on one of the two beds and Delia put the food down. As Delia wrote the note letting Hope know where she was and where we had gone, I turned on the light furthest away from her so she wouldn't wake up in an unknown place in complete darkness. Then Delia and I left to go to the diner across the street.

"So, why did you call Dwight Sasquatch earlier?" Delia asked me as we sat down.

"When was the last time you've seen your twin? He's freaking huge. I mean, I'm tall, but he's taller than _me_."

Delia giggled at my description of her brother.

"Actually, I haven't seen Dwight since we were 18. He left for the army. I left for college. Neither of us came back to Haven… at least not until Dwight's Trouble kicked in. Somewhere in between we lost contact. We just stopped talking. Gloria was the one who kept me up to date with what was important for me to know."

"You kept in touch with her?"

"She's a worrier. When she heard that Dwight and I lost touch, she tracked me down to make sure _someone_ knew what was going on with me."

"But she didn't know you were alive either, did she?"

"No. I felt bad about that, but Hope and I already told you why nobody could know that I was alive."

"I get it," I said, understanding that sometimes, not knowing was important. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah. What is it?"

"Do you know how much Hope actually knows about me?"

"Enough. She knew that, while never proven, you were suspected of smuggling among other illegal activities."

"And she still came and helped me?"

"You'd be surprised at Hope's ability to forgive sometimes. Besides, you're her big brother. I don't think she would judge you, even if you had been convicted, without meeting you first. Hope forms her own opinions on everything. She doesn't just accept society's opinions on anything, innocence or guilt included."

"So, you're both doctors?"

"Yup. I went to medical school in New York. I think Hope stayed closer to home. I believe she got into several Ivy League schools, but decided to go to Harvard from bachelor's degree through med school so she could stay home and commute. It made it easier for her to continue her training, considering what she knew was coming eventually."

"Wait, do you mean that Hope, who apparently was some kind of gifted kid, has never strayed far from home until now?"

"That's exactly it, Duke. She was never sure _when_ she was gonna have to pick up and come here to Maine, so she stayed close to her grandparents and coven. She worked as hard in her magickal training as in her medical training to succeed in both."

"But she's never had a life before, never taken a vacation?"

"Not really. She's always been focused on doing her family proud, carrying on the tradition, making sure she didn't fail at this, considering her mom literally died so she could be alive to do this," Delia replied. "Maybe now that she's actually done this, she'll relax a little more."

"I will teach her there's more to life. I can't be the reason she doesn't live hers," I told her.

Delia and I talked some more as we ate. When we finished eating, I paid the bill and we walked back across the street to the hotel. I checked in on Hope, she was still sound asleep. Delia checked her pulse and told me that it was stable so she was okay. So I said goodnight to Delia and went to the other room, leaving the two women who mysteriously came into my life in one room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

 **Hope:**

I slept through until morning. When I woke up, Duke and Delia were talking outside the room. After showering and eating, I got behind the wheel of the SUV and drove us back to Haven. We left the SUV down at the harbor by Duke's boat and started walking into town, both to find Duke's car, and his friends. It wasn't long before things went sideways.

"On your knees with your hands behind your heads," a blond man said to the three of us, before looking at me directly. "I don't know who you are, Lady, or what you did to these two, but until we know what the hell is going on, you're all coming with us."

A man with an energy similar to Delia was putting handcuffs on Duke.

"Dwight, what are you doing?" Delia asked, upset with her brother, who was ignoring her. "Look at me, Dwight. It's Delia."

Dwight looked away from her, while a man with dark hair put cuffs on Delia. At the same time, the man who stopped us came around behind me and put handcuffs on me. I didn't fight.

"Can't you do anything about this, Hope?" Duke asked me.

"It won't do anything but make them more scared. You want them to believe that the two of you are really who you say you are and that I'm not a threat to them. It's a bad idea to do anything. I think we need to see this through," I said, wincing as the blond man yanked me to my feet by the cuffs.

"McHugh, if you hurt her, I'm gonna put a world of hurt on you when I get out of these things," Duke growled at the blond yanking me around.

"Since when does Duke Crocker care about anyone other than himself?" McHugh asked, with a laugh.

"Boys!" said the dark haired man. "Stop messing around and let's just get these three down to the station. McHugh, stop manhandling that woman."

"Whatever you say, Wuornos," McHugh said sarcastically.

They each drove us to the police station in their own car, as if they didn't trust us together. When we got to the station, we were all put in different rooms, still handcuffed, waiting to be questioned. It seemed like forever when McHugh walked in with the man he called Wuornos.

"My name is Nathan Wuornos, Chief of the Haven Police Department. And your name is…?"

"Hope. Dr. Hope Corey."

"McHugh, check her out," he said to him, causing him to leave, before turning back to me. "Dr. Corey, we have a problem here. Delia Hendrickson was declared dead months ago, having been shot at her job. Her brother Dwight, identified her body. Duke Crocker… well, _I_ killed him. He begged me to in order to stop a bigger issue."

"Croatoan," I said.

Chief Wuornos looked at me in shock.

"How do _you know_ about that?"

"Chief Wuornos, how about we make a deal? I'll tell you the truth, if you don't try to hide anything about Haven's history from me. Is that fair?"

He was still looking at me in shock, but now it was as if he was weighing his options.

"Fine, Dr. Corey. You tell me what's going on here and I'll be honest about anything you ask," he finally answered.

"Call me Hope. Dr. Corey is too formal for me."

"Fine, Hope. How did you walk into Haven with two people that are supposed to be dead?"

"First, I need to let you know that I am not Troubled like so many in your town had been until yesterday."

"You knew about the Troubles?"

I nodded at him.

"I have my own abilities, gifts. There are things I can do, still do, even without the Troubles here in Haven. They are connected to my mom's side of the family. Generations of both sides of her family can do things like I can."

"Okay, so you can do things that I'm assuming most people can't."

"Right. My grandparents taught me to use these abilities, responsibly, to help people. They made me the person I am today."

"What about your parents?"

I took a deep breath. This was more difficult to explain.

"I never knew my father. He was only in town for one night. I was the result of a one night stand and my mother made sure he never found out about me. He was dead before I was born."

"And your mom?"

"She died in childbirth. She only lived long enough to name me Hope."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I know how much she loved me. My grandparents told me all about her as I grew up."

"Do you know who or where your father is from?"

"He's from Haven, Chief. His name was Simon Crocker, which is why my mom made sure he never found out about me or our family's lineage with magick. She didn't want him to think we were Troubled and try to kill us."

"You're trying to tell me… You're Duke Crocker's baby sister?" he asked me in shock.

 **Dwight:**

"How are you here Crocker? Last time I saw you, you were flipping me off as you faded into nothingness,"

I said to him. "You were dead. You told me to send Nathan to save Audrey. You told me how to save Lizzie. So how do you have a pulse?"

Duke looked at me like I had three heads.

"Okay, first of all, Sasquatch, I know I died. I remember Nathan killing me while Audrey held my hand. Gloria and Vicky were on the other side of the room. But I have no idea about the rest of it, though I guess I would go flip you off as a ghost," he said to me, laughing to himself before he got serious again. "Wait, you said I had you send Nathan to save Audrey. Where is she?"

"Duke… The new barn… Croatoan damaged it when he escaped from it the first time. In order for Vince to power it up the second time, he needed Audrey's capacity to love to balance all the aether. She went willingly… and she took the Troubles with her for good."

"But she'll be back in 27 years, right?" Duke asked desperately.

"Not this time, Crocker," I said as gently as I could. "She saved us all, from Croatoan, from the Void, from the Troubles. Audrey Parker made Haven a safe haven again."

"How could any of you let her go?" he asked angrily.

"You said it when she tried to go into the barn the first time, Duke. It was always her choice to make."

He put his head in his hands for a few minutes. I knew what Audrey meant to him. After losing Evi to Reverend Driscoll's war on the Troubled and Jennifer to the Troubles themselves, losing Audrey too was a lot for him. I let him know I would be back soon and went outside, walking into Nathan.

"Did you get anywhere with our outsider, Nathan?"

"She knew about the Troubles before she came to Haven, Dwight. She says her father was Simon Crocker," Nathan said, apparently in shock.

"Simon Crocker had no daughters on record," I said.

"Apparently he did," McHugh said, joining us. "In Danvers, Massachusetts. Hope Corey, daughter of Penny Corey and Simon Crocker, born July 15, 1984. Mother Penny died as a result of childbirth and little Hope was raised by her grandparents, living in or close to Danvers until she made her way to Haven. She studied medicine and started working at Boston General when she turned 22, not long after finishing med school. No priors, not even a parking ticket."

"Boston General… Dwight isn't that where…?"Nathan started asking.

"It's where Delia was killed. Where her Trouble activated," I answered. "So we have Duke Crocker and my sister, both of which are supposed to be dead. A woman who is supposedly the long-lost daughter of Simon Crocker, who just happens to roll into town with the two supposedly dead people at her side, and we're supposed to believe what?"

"We need Gloria," Nathan replied. "She can run a DNA test on Hope and Duke. If Simon was her father, the test will confirm it. Dwight, only you can confirm if that really is Delia. Nobody knows her like you."

"And what about whether or not to trust Crocker?" McHugh asked.

"They're all staying here until we have more answers. I'll get around to Duke. Dwight, take Delia. McHugh, go get Gloria. I'll handle our possible long-lost siblings," Nathan responded.

At that moment, Hope came out of one of the offices, holding an ice pack to her shoulder. All three of us were staring at her in shock.

"What? My shoulder was killing me from Tarzan dragging me around like Raggedy Anne. If I was trying to escape, I would've been gone, not coming out of an office with an ice pack, heading back to where you had me," Hope said, looking at McHugh before going back into Nathan's office.

"Was there anything she could pick the cuffs with in your office, Nathan?" I asked.

"No, she was still cuffed behind her back," he replied before turning to McHugh. "How roughly were you handling her? She didn't try to resist arrest."

"I may have been a little rougher than necessary," McHugh said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Go get Gloria. I'm going to talk to Houdini. Dwight, Delia."

 **Dwight:**

Here I was, face to face with my twin sister, for the first time since we were eighteen. Back then, things were so tense, with our father being a drunk, abusive asshole. But when I left for the army, she left for college… and never came back. We stayed in touch for a few years, but then she just stopped.

"Dwight, I know I owe you a lot of explanations, but please, give me a chance," my sister said to me, who looked even more mature than she did when we went our separate ways.

"Let's start by you proving to me that you really are my sister. If you really are Delia, tell me something only Delia and I would know," I replied to her.

She stayed quiet for a minute, as if thinking deeply. After taking some time gathering her thoughts, her facial expression changed, and she replied to me.

"When we were in sixth grade, Jimmy Mosley kept harassing me, trying to grab at me and everything. We both knew if we told his Pop, he'd whoop his ass, but Jimmy would just come after me worse. You offered to teach him a lesson for me. I said no, I'd handle him myself. So one day, during lunch, Jimmy followed me into the yard and I beat his ass, accidentally breaking his arm. You showed up before any of the teachers could hear him. When they did, you took the blame and Jimmy let you. He didn't want anyone to know he got beat up by a girl. You got suspended because you didn't want to let me get in trouble for defending myself after what Jimmy had been doing. Even when we both got home, you didn't tell Dad, you just took a beating for me. After that, I took care of your wounds until they healed, pretty much waited on you hand and foot because I felt so guilty that you took that beating because of me."

I could feel the tears in my eyes. Looking at her, I knew she could tell I was convinced. I got up, uncuffed her, and held my twin sister as tightly as I could, for the first time in more than a decade.

"Delia. I thought I lost you forever," I said as I held her. I didn't care if she knew I was crying.

"Nope, Dwight. It's not that easy to get rid of your twin. You have Hope to thank for that," she said to me.

"What does she have to do with you being here? Did she do anything to you? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Relax. Hope isn't a bad person. Yes, she did something to me, something that ultimately saved my life, nothing bad. She's not some kind of cult leader that helps people and then brain washes them into her service."

"Then what happened?"

She explained what actually happened at the hospital, what Hope had done, and what happened after. She told me how guilty she felt leaving the golem for me to identify as her, but why she agreed with Hope. Finally she told me why Hope thought she should come to Haven with her.

"So Hope was coming to help Duke?"

"Yes."

"And she thought you'd be safer with me, in case that shooter was looking for you?"

"Yeah. Things are different and similar where she is, but it's not the Troubles. Since being declared dead Hope was teaching me about medicinal herbs in additional to the pharmaceutical approach all doctors learn in med school. It was really interesting to me."

"So she's not holding you prisoner or anything?"

"No, Dwight," she said with a laugh. "We got here yesterday, and after she helped Duke and woke back up, she needed food and rest. Duke suggested a place not far out of town. That's why we left town for the night. Hope slept from the time Duke put her in the backseat until this morning, she was so wiped out. When she woke up, we ate, got ourselves together, and came back to Haven. Duke wanted to find his friends and find out what happened while he was gone, I wanted to see you, though, _not so much_ in handcuffs, and I think Hope just wants to get to know her brother, the other part of her, for right now."

"Did you know that Hope could get out of handcuffs?"

"The question never came up. She's never been arrested. But knowing the things she can do, I wouldn't be surprised if she could," Delia replied. "Dwight, Hope is a good doctor, a good person, one who can do things I didn't really know existed outside of the Troubles until I met her and her family. She likes to help people, sometimes even if it hurts her. I believe that if she wanted to stop you, McHugh, and Nathan Wuornos from taking any of us, she could have. But she's not looking for trouble."

 **Hope:**

"How did you get out of the handcuffs, Dr. Corey?" Nathan asked.

"Back to the formal names, Chief? Really, I prefer Hope," I answered.

"And I would prefer you answer my questions."

"Which I have been, with total honesty, I might add."

"Then answer this one. How did you get out of the cuffs?"

"I already told you I can do things other people can't. I can actually manipulate matter. I wasn't going to do it, but my shoulder really was starting to hurt. After unlocking the handcuffs, I felt around my shoulder and found some swelling, so I went in search of an ice pack before the swelling got worse. You caught me coming back here."

"You can unlock the cuffs without anything to pick the lock?"

"Yeah. That's pretty much what I just said, Chief."

Nathan had a look of disbelief on his face.

"Then show me."

"Fine, but first, I need some soda. I'm still recovering from helping Duke yesterday and then the other things I did at his boat before he suggested going out of town. Unlocking the cuffs today wasn't a big deal the first time, but doing it again, while I'm hurting, I'm gonna need something to fuel me. I don't think you want me blacking out on your office floor, do you, Chief Wuornos?"

Nathan walked out of the room and came back a few minutes later with a can of soda. I drank half of it and put it down on his desk. He took his cuffs out and handcuffed me to the chair I was sitting in, before moving it into the middle of the room, away from anything I could use to pick the lock.

"So let's see this little trick of yours, Dr. Corey."

"If I show you, will you please stop calling me Dr. Corey? I really prefer Hope."

"Fine."

I relaxed my body, ignoring the pain in my shoulder and wrists because of McHugh. Instead I focused on the handcuffs restraining me, how I wanted them to release me, to let me be free. After about a minute, I felt the handcuffs fall off of me and heard Nathan gasp.

"You were telling me the truth about magick, weren't you, Hope?"

"Yeah, I was, Chief Wuornos. But I'm not in Haven to cause trouble. I'm a doctor, a natural healer, and I'll help you in any way I can. I came to Haven to help my brother, Duke, to get to know him. I don't think it's the only reason I'm here, but I haven't figured the rest out yet," I said to him.

"Okay, why was my Happy Hour interrupted?" asked an elderly woman from the door.

"Gloria, I need you to run a DNA analysis between two possible siblings."

"Can't Intern do it?"

"I'd prefer it be you, especially since I know you'll put a rush on it for me," Nathan told her.

"Fine. Who am I testing and why?"

"Gloria, meet Dr. Hope Corey. I want you to test her DNA against Duke Crocker, who is in the next room. According to Hope, Simon Crocker was both of their fathers."

Gloria turned as white as a sheet.

"Nathan, Duke is dead. He died right out here. The Troubles…"

"Gloria, I'm still figuring it out myself, but he's in the next room."

 **Duke:**

Gloria came barging into the room. When she saw me, she whacked me in the back of the head.

"What'd I tell you about doing stupid things? Now I have to do a DNA test on you and that girl next door? What the hell is going on Crocker? You were dead! I declared it myself. And now you're just sitting here?!" she exclaimed, finally just pulling me into a hug.

That was Gloria. We always had a weird relationship. Two peas in a pod, I guess. Did what we had or wanted to, no matter what anyone said, even the law.

"Audrey's gone, Gloria," was all I got out at first. "She's gone forever."

She hugged me again.

"I know, Kid. She ended our nightmare, but I know you're gonna miss her."

"You have to do a DNA test on me and Hope?"

Gloria nodded at me.

"Why?"

"Nathan ordered it. Wants it fast-tracked too."

"She's my sister, Gloria. I can feel it. And the timing is right. My dad was hunting a Troubled woman in Massachusetts around the time her mom would've conceived. We all know he wasn't exactly a one woman kind of guy, so…"

"Does she have anything to do with you sitting here today?"

"She has everything to do with it."

"How, Kid? What did she do?"

"That's her story. I gotta let her be the one to decide who to tell."

Gloria took a DNA sample from me and left the room. A few hours later, Nathan and Dwight brought Hope in. Her arm was in a sling. Rage started to flow through me. Hope looked at me.

"Relax, Duke. It's not that bad. I'll be fine in a few days. This is to keep me from overworking the shoulder and making it worse. I'm okay," she said to me, trying to be reassuring.

"Why don't you have her handcuffed? Not that I'm complaining," I asked Nathan and Dwight, noticing they didn't even bother cuffing her hands in front of her.

"No point. Hope here can unlock them on her own, no paperclips or anything. She did it earlier to go get herself an icepack for her shoulder," Dwight said.

Nathan sat Hope down next to me. I wanted to check her, make sure she was okay. I didn't know where the impulse came from, but I felt protective of this girl I'd known for a day. I didn't touch her because I was afraid with me still being cuffed, I might accidentally hurt her. She was already in pain.

"Gloria sent over the preliminaries of the DNA testing on you two," Nathan said.

"And?" I asked. "What did it say?"

"It confirmed Hope's claim that Simon Crocker was also her father, Duke. She is your little sister," Nathan finally said.

"Wait, you're referring to me as Duke. So does that mean you believe I am who I say I am? Does that mean you believe all of us, Nathan?"

"Yeah, Crocker, we believe you," Dwight answered. "I spent time with Delia. She was able to tell me things that only my twin sister would be able to tell me. When I talked to you, your reaction to hearing about Audrey was genuine, one I would expect from you. Gloria even said that you are really you. The DNA tests helped prove Hope wasn't lying about being your sister, but some of the things she's done while in the station have shown there is truth to what she's told us. It also showed us, like Delia told me, if she really wanted to keep you guys away from us, we never would've gotten you three into custody."

"Essentially, Duke, you two are free to go," Nathan said.

"Just the two of us?" Hope asked. "What about Delia?"

"I took Delia back to my place while we were waiting on the DNA results for you two," Sasquatch told Hope, handing her a piece of paper. "She wanted you to have this. I know among other things she included my address and home number so you two can stay in touch."

"Thanks, Dwight. I know Delia was nervous about seeing you after the gunman thing, but she really wanted to at the same time. She loves you more than just about anything else in this world."

'Squatch nodded at Hope and left the room. Nathan looked between me and Hope like he wasn't sure whether to be happy for me because I had a sister or terrified there was another Crocker in town.

"So, Hope, Delia is staying with Dwight. Where are you going when we let you out of here?"

"The Cape Rouge with me," I answered immediately. "I mean, if you want, Hope. I just figured we should get to know each other. If you want your own space I can set you up…"

"Above the Gull?" Nathan asked.

I nodded.

"I don't think Audrey could think of anyone better to take her apartment, Duke. Or a better reason for you to occupy it so fast."

"What's the Gull?"

"The bar I own that I need to fix up thanks to the Troubles. There's an apartment above it. Nathan's girlfriend, former partner, the one who apparently pulled all the black stuff out of here used to live in it, but she's not coming back. It's a long story."

"She went with it to lock up Croatoan," Hope said. "I don't know everything, but I did know some things. It's how I knew that I had to wait until all that black stuff was being pulled to one point in town before I could help you. This way any still in you would be pulled out and banished with Croatoan."

"Wait, Duke," Nathan started, "I hadn't thought of that. The Crocker Curse, all the Troubles you absorbed. They're all gone?"

"I don't feel any of it."

"None of it is there anymore. As I helped him, all the black stuff in him was pulled out, into the mass cloud that formed in that one location. When he came around, he was as Trouble free as anyone else in Haven," Hope said.

Nathan uncuffed me. I rubbed my wrists. He patted me on the shoulder.

"It's good to have the real you back, Crocker. I'm sorry about…" Nathan started.

"Nathan, I told you. You killing me was the only way. We don't know what would have happened if I had lived long enough for Croatoan to get all of those Troubles. You did right by me in the end. You don't have to apologize. You helped me do things on my terms," I said to him.

Hope stood up. I put my hand on her good shoulder and started leading her out of the station. When we got outside, McHugh was there. I wanted to punch him. Hope stopped me.

"Wait, Duke. At least hear what he has to say."

"Speak, before I decide to hit you anyway," I said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to actually hurt your sister, Crocker. After everything this town's been through, I was suspicious of this woman walking through town with two people who should be dead. I'm sorry. Hope, I'm sorry. If I can do anything to help you out while you heal, give Nathan a call here and I'll come find you," McHugh said, seemingly genuine, though I still wanted to punch him. He tossed me keys. "Here, Crocker. I figured you and Hope were gonna need a way to get out of here when Nathan released you tonight. I tracked down your car for you. Figured it was the least I could do after I acted like such an ass."

"It's a good start, McHugh, but touch my sister again, and I'll make you remember why should fear me. Understood?"

"Lookin' forward to you tryin', Crocker."

He walked away and we walked to my car. I picked Hope up and put her in the passenger seat, just to make sure she didn't use her shoulder. Then I went to the driver's side and we left, after a long day. Hope and I both got our answers, even if not all of mine were answers I liked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

 **Six Weeks Later:**

 **Hope:**

Living in Haven wasn't bad. It was fairly quiet most of the time. Delia and I were helping out in the medical examiner's office so Vicky could go back to teaching art, and ultimately so Gloria could go back into retirement. Since things were slow there, we helped out in the hospital as needed, and in my free time, I helped Duke fix up the Gull. I continued practicing my magick, finding access to new things in Haven that I'd never felt back home. In some ways it made me feel stronger.

Nathan seemed happier than when Delia and I first showed up. Even though everyone said his girlfriend Audrey would never come back, apparently she found a loophole… A parallel life named Paige, with a baby named James, a reincarnation of the son a different aspect of Audrey had with Nathan. She had been staying at one of the inns in town for the last two weeks. Now, Nathan was showing her around town to help her find something more permanent for her and James. With Nathan being distracted for the last two weeks, there was less time for him to constantly check up on me, Duke, and Delia, who I swear he believed were a trick of smoke and mirrors at times.

"Duke! Come on!" I called below decks to my brother. "We had a deal!"

Duke lazily came up to the deck of the Cape Rouge with a cup of coffee in his hands.

"And what, dear Baby Sister, are we talking about today? I do make a lot of deals. Refresh my memory," he said with a smirk.

I swatted him with a newspaper and he started laughing as he tried to get away from me while still holding his coffee cup.

"You promised to help me move into the apartment above the Gull today, before you re-open the Gull on Friday."

"Why are you in such a rush to leave? We're having so much fun here," he said as I swatted at him and just barely missed him.

"Really, Duke? Are you telling me you never want to have a sex life again? That you want it to be just you and me forever on the Rouge? I love you. Really, I do. But it's not like we don't spend a ton of time together on dry land anyway. Why are you so determined to keep me here on the Rouge with you?"

"You're right. If you stay, I will never get laid again. We're moving you out," he said with a straight face before cracking up again. "You don't have to worry about that, Hope. I like having you around. I never had a sibling around that was actually fun to be around. But you're right. We spend a lot of time together here and off the Rouge. You don't need to live here for me to know you're really here. So what if you move above the Gull? You've been helping me there anyway. I guess sometimes it was easier to hide out here with you than do anything else because the only expectation you ever had for me was to be me. You just wanted to know who your brother is, no expectations."

"Duke, you're a great man. You were willing to die to save everyone you care about. There is nothing more I need to know about you. No matter what you did in the past, or will do in the future, you are my brother. You are the man who, when push comes to shove, will do everything to protect the people who are important to you. That's not gonna change. The rest is just filler in your life story."

"Do you mean that, Hope? You're not gonna judge me for my mistakes?"

"You're a human being. We all are. We all make mistakes. So, you don't have to worry about me judging you."

"Come on, Sis. Time for you to have your own place," Duke said to me.

 **Dwight:**

Delia and I had been getting along great since she was home. Lizzie loved finally meeting her. She loved playing with her. But I had a nagging feeling something was bothering Lia. She was hiding something from me. I wasn't sure how long she'd been hiding it, but whatever it was, it was on her mind more, enough that she wasn't sleeping right at night. I heard the front door open and close, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Lia?" I called out.

"Yeah, Dwight, it's just me."

She came into the kitchen, where I was starting to cook dinner.

"Just like old times, huh, Bro?" she asked as she stood on her toes to give me a kiss on my check. "Listen, I need to tell you something."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing bad, Dwight, relax," she replied, and I knew she wasn't going to tell me what was bothering her. "I've been helping Nathan with Paige. You know, helping her to find a place of her own?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Well, I've decided to get a place of my own."

"Lia, you don't have to do that. I feel like I just got you back…"

"Dwight, I'm not leaving town. I just think it would be better if I got a place of my own. Between helping Paige and watching Duke and Hope make plans for her to move off the Cape Rouge, I just feel like I should stand on my own two feet. You have Lizzie to take care of. You don't need a neurotic twin as a chaser."

"Lia…" I started, but I didn't know what to say. "You know I love you, right?"

She hugged me. The top of her head barely reached my shoulders. I held her tight in return.

"Of course I know you love me, Dwight. I also know you would do anything for me. But I don't ever want to put you and Lizzie in a bad position because I'm neurotic."

"I don't believe you ever would."

"Never intentionally."

"Then why leave?"

"We've both grown up, Dwight. We've learned to live without each other, regardless of how much it tore both of us apart. I think being able to live apart, separate our lives might be better right now. I'm only going to be a short distance away. It's not like we'll be cut off from each other."

"You better come over at least twice a week for dinner and to play with your niece, Lia."

"I promise."

"How soon are you planning on leaving?"

"If everything works out? I'll be moving in a few weeks."

"Then we'll make the most of the time we have under the same roof."

 **Duke:**

It didn't really take too long to move Hope into the apartment over the Gull. Nathan had moved all of Audrey's stuff, furniture included, a few weeks before. A few days before Hope was going to move in, she had furniture delivered into the apartment, picked up the basics she would need. Moving day essentially involved moving her personal possessions and clothes from the Cape Rouge. She didn't have a ton of those in Haven, so we were able to pack it all in her SUV. After she was settled, she promised to come to the Rouge at least three days a week to do morning yoga with me, and I gave her the keys to her place. I went to take care of what I needed to, and she ran an errand for me, making sure the liquor license for the Gull was in order before opening.

Friday night brought the re-opening of The Grey Gull. I was nervous as hell. The bar hadn't been opened since before the Trouble bomb Mara set inside of me went off, Troubling almost the entire town. I was in the front of the house, making sure everything was right. Hope said she'd check the back of the house, citing my nerves as a reason to keep me from all the breakables. I let her do it. Suddenly, I wasn't alone.

"We're not open yet," I said automatically.

"I didn't think you'd mind if I popped in," Delia said from behind me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I figured, taking back part of your life from before it fell apart, might leave you a little nervous… overwhelmed."

"What would you know about it?"

"I know it's part of the reason why I told Dwight I'm moving out. He just doesn't know why."

"What are you talking about?"

"Bad shit happens to people, Duke. Not always to bad people. Nobody knows why. But when you're away from something that was part of or reminds you of the bad things that happened, it's a relief. Coming back… it can be claustrophobic."

"How did you know?"

"I feel it being back in Haven. But I refuse to run again. I'm not gonna leave my twin brother again. I'm not gonna leave my beautiful niece. I have a family, and whether they know what's going on in my head or not, they are my motivation for not running away again," She said to me. "Think about it, Duke, I'm guessing whatever happened was related to the Troubles. They're not coming back, but you have a sister who loves you, who would do anything for you. Even if she doesn't know what your issues are, she's still someone to ground to. Though, if I'm gonna be honest with you, Hope is an excellent shoulder to lean on."

"Duke we're about to open! Is everything out there ready?" Hope called from the back.

"Yeah, Hope! Everything's great! I'm gonna open the doors!" I called back to her.

"Can I buy you a drink, Duke?" Delia asked as I opened the bar.

 **Hope:**

The relaunch of The Grey Gull went really well in my opinion. At some point in the night, Duke and Delia came over to me. Duke seemed very relaxed, kinda the way I'd heard people around town describe him before the Crocker Curse got him. Carefree. It was nice to see him that way. I didn't want him acting different because he had a sister. Delia seemed drunk, which I didn't think was a good thing. Delia didn't always act rationally when she was drunk. Duke told me once the Gull was closed I could go, he'd cover cleaning up, and Delia asked me to cover her emergency room rotation at the hospital in the morning. I didn't think having a hung over doctor in the emergency room was a good idea so I agreed. After closing up I was walking upstairs to my apartment when I heard my name.

"Hope?" Dwight called to me.

I turned around.

"Hey Dwight. McHugh still with Lizzie?"

"Yeah. I was wondering if you've seen my sister?"

"Come upstairs, Dwight. I'll make you some coffee. It's getting kinda chilly out."

Dwight followed me upstairs and when it was ready he accepted the coffee.

"I saw Delia with Duke a few hours ago, Dwight."

"I feel like something is off with her."

"She's drunk," I said. "I think Duke may have been too, it's harder to tell with him. But they came over to ask me to cover her morning shift at the hospital and Duke said I could leave as soon as the Gull was closed to customers. Last I saw either of them, they were hanging out on the deck outside."

"If Crocker takes advantage of her…" Dwight started.

"Hey! Watch it. That's my older brother you're threatening there," I reminded him. "I don't know what your issues with him are, but I don't think Duke trusts himself right now, so I don't see him initiating anything right now. I think it's why he was trying to keep me on the Cape Rouge with him. I was a built in barricade to the outside world. But Dwight… Delia isn't really good with making decisions when she's drunk. It's like she's a different person."

"What do you mean, Hope?"

"I don't really know how to explain it. I've only seen it once because after this incident I tried to keep her from drinking too often. But a few years ago she talked me into going out drinking with her and a few of the older doctors from the hospital. She was smashed, Dwight, and I was worried that any one of the guys would have been able to take advantage of her, that she was so acting so… suggestively, that she'd just get them going and go with it. After that I tried to steer her away from the bars, introduced her to my family, and brought her to the shore to relax when there was time. Anything to keep her from acting like that again. I wasn't just trying to protect her from what could happen to her while she was drunk, but with so many peers around, I was trying to protect her professional reputation."

"You've really looked out for her almost as long as you've known her, haven't you?"

"I guess so," I said, shrugging.

"Thank you, Hope. Thank you for doing what you've done that ultimately brought Lia back home to me. I never thought I'd see her again."

"You don't have to thank me, Dwight."

Dwight's hand was on mine at this point. He was looking into my eyes with such an intensity, I wasn't sure how to feel, it was like he was seeing into my soul. There was something between us, but I pulled away. He was Delia's twin.

"I should probably let you get home to Lizzie before McHugh burns down the house. And I have to be at the hospital at six now that I'm covering Delia's E.R. shift. I should get to bed," I said, still feeling his touch on my hand, even though he wasn't touching me.

"Yeah, I shouldn't leave McHugh with Lizzie for too long," Dwight said, heading to the door. "Hope, how about I take you for coffee next time?"

"Coffee sounds great, Dwight. You know where to find me."

With that, I let Dwight Hendrickson walk out of my apartment, leaving me wondering what the hell was going on.

 **Duke:**

I woke with someone in my arms. I was naked and not completely sure what happened. It took a minute to remember the relaunch of The Grey Gull and leaving with Delia. We were both drinking a lot. I remembered her asking Hope to cover her morning shift and me telling her I'd clean up The Gull. I looked at my phone. It was almost noon. I had a few hours to get The Gull ready for tonight. As I shifted, Delia woke up, and tried to quietly get out of bed, obviously not realizing I was already up.

"You weren't going to sneak out on me, were you?" I asked.

"I don't want to, but do you realize your sister has been at work for me for almost six hours because of this? She worked the bar with you last night and then I had her go in to the hospital early for me. I can't be late, Duke," she explained.

I thought about what she said. Then I let it go, because there was nothing we could do to change what we had already done.

"She said she wanted to be able to have a life again," I said with a laugh. "Look, we can't change last night. It's over. But I know how to treat a lady. If you want to leave, that's your choice, but you should at least let me make you breakfast after all of that alcohol and fun we had all night."

She looked at me with a wicked smile. I knew she was my sister's best friend, but she was my kind of casual girl. And she _definitely_ knew what she was doing in the sack. I nodded at her.

"Alright, I'll stay for breakfast, but then I have to go home to get ready for work. I can't leave Hope stranded."

"That's good. Because I'm pretty sure I told her I'd clean up the Gull last night and instead I brought you back here and took you every way imaginable," I said coming up behind her and pulling her towards my naked body.

Feeling her pressed against me the way she was, I almost gave in to the urge to get back into bed with her. Part of me wanted her to call in sick to the hospital and stay in bed, in my arms, with me in her. Another part of me said I couldn't just risk a double shift being dropped on Hope. So even though I had started kissing her neck, Delia finally stopped me somehow.

"Duke, I can't. I have to get to work later. And you have to clean up the Gull before Hope gets back and realizes it isn't done before it's supposed to open tonight."

I could tell she was struggling to stick to this decision as much as I was, so I got up and started making breakfast. While I did, she got dressed, probably to deter any more attempted distractions.

 **Dwight:**

It was almost two in the afternoon when Lia came home. She took a shower, spent an hour with Lizzie, and then asked if we could drop her at the hospital for her shift. Lizzie and I were hanging out when Hope got out.

"Hey there, Stranger," Hope said, coming over to me. "Did Delia ever make it home?"

"Yeah, at almost two this afternoon."

"Relax, Dwight. All of us are adults. I know her coming back to Haven is the first time since you guys were teenagers, but we're all still adults. You can't try to put her on a curfew."

"Daddy, who's this?" Lizzie asked coming over to us.

"Lizzie, this is my friend, . She's one of your Aunt Lia's friends who moved to Haven when Aunt Lia came home. Hope is Mr. Crocker's little sister," I told her.

"Hi, Dr. Corey. Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Lizzie. But please, call me Hope. It's okay, I don't mind."

Lizzie looked to me to see if it was okay if she called Hope by her first name. I nodded, mostly because I knew that for whatever reason, Hope really did prefer being referred to by her first name, and Lizzie relaxed at the request. My little girl had really good manners, even if she was very outgoing and hyper.

"Do you wanna come by my place for dinner tonight? You, me, and Lizzie could watch a movie after," I asked.

"What happened to coffee?" Hope asked.

"Isn't it kinda late for that?"

"I appreciate the offer, Dwight, but I only got about two hours of sleep before I had to get up for work this morning. Plus, I promised to help Duke get the Gull going before leaving him on his own tonight."

"Why are you doing triple duty between the medical examiner's office, the hospital, and the Gull, again?" I asked, worried Duke was taking advantage of his little sister.

"Duke needed help getting back into the swing of things with the Gull. I told him I'd help him out until he did. Besides, I used to tend bar back home from my senior year of college through medical school. When he's a little calmer, I'll slowly back out of the Gull."

"What do you mean, calmer?"

"Duke hadn't been there since before Mara made him…" Hope made an explosion motion with her hands and I understood.

Crocker hadn't been in the Gull since before he tried to leave Haven, to throw himself into the void for the protection of anyone that might be hit by one of the Troubles Mara was trying to force him to unleash. He'd been controlled by Mara, Croatoan, died, and was now back. He'd been through a lot. He was overwhelmed. Like a soldier with PTSD. I understood why she was pushing herself so much to help her brother.

"You're doing a good thing for him, Hope."

"Raincheck on coffee and dinner?"

"Definitely. Go home and get some rest. Maybe I can get McHugh to stay with Lizzie after I put her to bed and stop by to see you for a bit later."

"That wouldn't be a bad thing," she said with a smile.

I liked to see her smile. My heart still hurt over Charlotte, but Lizzie eased a lot of that hurt, opening my heart back up to any kind of love. Hope was different from anyone else I'd ever known. I didn't know what I was thinking. She said goodbye to me and Lizzie before turning around, getting into her car, and driving away.

 **Duke:**

It was after six. The Gull was going to open at eight. I was supposed to have cleaned it last night, but I didn't. I didn't want to let Hope down, not so soon into having a sister who looked at me the way she did, but I knew she would be home from the hospital soon. Half of the Gull was still a mess. Suddenly I heard a car door.

"Duke?" Hope called to me as I heard her move closer to the door.

She walked in and she didn't even look shocked.

"Let's get this place ready for tonight."

"You knew this would happen?"

"When Dwight came to me last night saying he couldn't find Delia, yeah, I did. Delia is… wild when she's drunk. I don't think you should let yourself get drunk if she's drunk around you. She acts weird when she's drunk, Duke. It worries me. I trust you with her, but I'm worried if you turn your back on her, someone else will take advantage of how different she acts when she's drunk," Hope said, looking really worried. "But I talked to Dwight when I got out of work. He says Delia didn't come home until about two. I'm guessing you two had a _very_ nice night."

"You really teasing on me about my sex life now, Baby Sister?" I said in mock shock, realizing she didn't want to talk about her worries anymore at the moment. "At least I _have_ a sex life to discuss, Little One."

"And if I tried to have a sex life you'd flip out, wouldn't you?"

I stopped for a second. Thinking about it, I _didn't_ want anyone touching my sister.

"You are absolutely right. You are not allowed to have a sex life. Ever. Because I said so," I said, trying to keep a straight face.

"Sure, _Big Brother_. Whatever you say," she replied sarcastically.

"Does it bother you that me and Delia…"

"I don't need the details Duke. As long as we're clear on that and the fact that any drama that comes up between you two needs to stay out of my business, I'm fine. I'm not going to be put between the person I've known the longest in this town and my brother. If you can respect that, you're consenting adults, do what makes you happy. Just seriously, leave me out of it, please?"

I laughed.

"I guess that's fair."

"Now I'm gonna be unfair. I got the dishes. Wipe down all the tables and counters, then sweep and mop the floors. When I'm done with the dishes, I'll prep the bar for drinks."

"That, Baby Sister, is _very_ unfair."

"I could leave you to do all of it like you were supposed to while I go take a nap."

I pulled Hope into a hug.

"Fine. It's fair enough," I said as I kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Hope."

"I love you too, Duke. I'm just gonna run upstairs, drop my stuff and change out of these clothes. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Go. I'm a big boy. I can start wiping down tables."

 **Dwight:**

"So you want me to stay while Lizzie's asleep?" McHugh asked.

"Yeah. She's out cold. Do you mind?"

"Not if you tell me what's going on."

"I want to go see Hope."

"The Crocker girl?"

"Yes," I said, even though that wasn't her name. "I was in her apartment for coffee last night after the Gull closed and it seemed like there was something there. And there's something about her smile… I don't know what it is about her."

"How does Lia feel about this?"

"I haven't told her. And considering it seems as though Lia spent the night on the Cape Rouge last night, she wouldn't really have a right to say anything if there was something between me and Hope."

"Lia and Duke?"

"Yeah. Two days after she tells me she's planning on moving out, as soon as a few weeks from now."

"Damn, Dwight. Only you can find woman drama like _this_. I'll stay with Lizzie. Go see Hope."

"Thanks, man."

A little later I was pulling into the Grey Gull. When I got there Duke was at the bar. He looked nervous when he noticed I was walking towards the bar. I wanted to laugh at him… he would sleep with my sister, but he was scared to face me.

"What can I do for you, Sasquatch?"

"I'm looking for your sister. Where is she?"

"She's in her apartment. She only worked here a couple of hours tonight, had a long day."

"So she told me," I said as I turned away from him.

"Where are you going?" Duke called to me.

I just waved as I walked out of the Gull. Once outside, I started walking up the steps to her apartment. She was sitting on her couch with an ice pack on her head and a blanket wrapped around her. Both sets of doors were open. I knocked on the doorframe and waited for her to acknowledge me. When she did, I noticed the thermometer. It beeped when I got to her so I took it out of her mouth. It read nearly 104 degrees.

"Hope, you're burning up," I said to her.

"And freezing. My body can't decide if it's hot or cold."

"Let me take you to the hospital."

"No, Dwight. Please?"

"Hope, you're a doctor. You know a fever this high can be dangerous."

"I worked a twelve hour shift in the emergency room today. If you bring me in there with a temperature like this, all my work for the last two to three days will be put under review and I will not be allowed to go back to work until they give me a clear bill of health."

"Hope, you're sick."

"I'm overworking myself, I need some rest and herbs," she said, sounding really worn out. "Put me in my bed, please?"

Seeing her in the shape she was, I couldn't tell her no. I took her to her bed and put her under her blankets. She fell asleep almost instantly. Still worried, I went back down to the Gull to find Duke.

"Hey, Crocker. Do you know Hope's grandparents' number?"

"No, but I know it's in her cell phone. She calls them four or five times a week. Why?"

"She's upstairs with a fever of almost 104, but she won't let me take her to the hospital. She said she needs rest and herbs. I put her in her bed and she fell asleep, but I don't know what to do about the herbs. I figured they might."

"I should go check on her."

"I got her Crocker. She doesn't seem to like anyone putting their lives on hold for her, even if she'll do it for others. I'll stay upstairs with her, find her cell and call her grandparents, see what they say. Do what you have to down here. Come up after. I'll take care of her in the meantime."

Duke looked torn. In that moment, it was clear, his sister meant more to him than anything.

"Fine, but if anything happens to her, Sasquatch…"

"I'll let you know."

He nodded at me and I went back upstairs to find her cell phone. When I did, I dialed her grandparents. After a few rings a woman answered the phone.

"Hope, honey? Are you okay?"

"Mrs. Corey, my name is Dwight Hendrickson. I'm a friend of Hope's here in Haven and I need your help to help Hope…"

An hour later, Hope was sweating out her fever and coming around. I was relieved when she got my attention.

"Dwight? What's going on? How did you…"

"I called your grandmother because I didn't know how to do the herbs you were talking about. She told me how to make the one for your head, to help bring the fever down," I said as I went over to her, taking the herb-soaked cloth off of her head and feeling her for fever. "She also told me how to make a blend to make you tea when you woke up."

I put the cloth back on her head and carried her over to the couch. I put the tea kettle on and sat down with her as I waited for the water to boil.

"I hope you're not mad at me, Hope, but you didn't want to go to the hospital and your temperature was at nearly 104. You mentioned herbs before you blacked out on me and your grandparents seemed like the logical people to call."

Hope put her hand on mine. It stopped me from rambling excuses for calling her grandparents so late, going through her apartment to find what I needed to do this stuff.

"Thank you, Dwight."

I was shocked that she thanked me.

"What?"

"Thank you for helping me. I needed to blend the herbs, but the fever spiked too fast. I got too weak too fast because of it. Your quick thinking helped me. Thank you."

"Hope, I…" I started, but the tea kettle went off.

I got up and made her tea. I brought it to her. She drank it and curled up on me, where she fell asleep. I texted McHugh to let him know that Hope was sick and I was looking after her, that if she woke after Duke closed the Gull, I'd let him switch places with me, but if not, I wasn't gonna wake her so there was a good chance I wasn't gonna get home.

A few hours later, Duke came upstairs. His footsteps on the stairs woke me up, but Hope stayed asleep. When he walked in the door, I motioned for him to stay quiet. He came right over to the couch and checked Hope.

"What going on, Dwight?"

"Her fever started breaking with the cloth on her head that her grandmother walked me through making. She woke up for a little bit and I gave her some tea that her grandmother told me how to mix. Not long after she curled up on me and just went right back to sleep. She's been like that since."

"So this herb stuff broke this ridiculously high fever?"

"Seems that way."

"Are you gonna stay here until she wakes up?"

"I don't want to risk waking her."

"I'm not gonna leave my sister. I haven't known her long, but I've only heard about her blacking out like that once Dwight, and it made Delia really worried."

He peaked my interest.

"When has she blacked out before?"

"When she brought me back, Dwight. Delia said she drained so much of her own energy she even started to drain Delia's energy. As soon as I regained consciousness, she hit the floor. She barely stayed conscious when she woke up, and as soon as she went out, she stayed down until the following morning."

"But that day she was resurrecting you. I would guess that takes a lot out of a person. Tonight she said she's tired, overworking herself. What's she doing that's causing her to drain her energy like that?"

"I don't know. But I think we need to find out."

"You haven't asked her to do anything for you, have you?"

"No! We do yoga, play practical jokes on each other. That's about it. She helps me with the Gull. Nothing else. What about you? Have you asked her for anything?"

"No. I don't know what happens to her when she does what she did for you and Lia. I wouldn't risk it."

I looked at Duke as a lightbulb seemed to go off in both our heads.

"You don't think…" he started.

"She's using her energy to help patients at the hospital?" I finished.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

 **Duke:**

Over the next week, Dwight and I convinced Hope to stay home from the hospital. Delia picked up some of her shifts, especially since she felt responsible for her getting sick. When I asked her why, she said that she had missed the signs, that some of Hope's patients, not terminal ones, but other patients were getting out of the hospital faster than was expected. Dwight, Nathan, and I took turns looking after Hope, not even trying to hide the fact that we were worried about her. Dwight usually looked after her while Lizzie was in school, Nathan was with her when Paige was home with James, and I stayed with her overnight.

"Come on, Sis," I said waking her up. "It's time for yoga."

Hope stirred before shuffling to the bathroom. When she came out, she had changed and was ready to go. We drove back to the Cape Rouge and started our yoga routine, which seemed to relax us both. After we were done I put my arm around her.

"How are you feeling, Hope? Honestly?"

"Kinda like a prisoner, Duke."

"You scared the hell out of all of us."

She looked out onto the horizon.

"I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. But how long are you guys gonna keep me on a 24/7 watch?"

"Until we're sure that you're not going to burn yourself out and collapse again, Hope. I told you, I like having a sister. I don't want to lose you. I'm being purely selfish here," I said acting arrogant.

She whacked me and I started laughing.

"I was only sick for about a day and a half or so. That's not that bad…"

"Hope, it didn't take you that long to recover from bringing me back from the dead. So whatever you've been doing at the hospital is affecting you badly."

"It's not just the hospital, Duke," she said barely loud enough for me to hear.

"What did you say?"

"I wasn't just helping some of my patients at the hospital, Duke," she said, looking me in the eyes as she said it this time.

"Then what else have you gotten yourself into, Hope?"

"Nothing, really. I'm not involved with anything else or doing anything for anyone else."

"Then explain."

"I'm still practicing magick, Duke. Exploring and connecting with my new surroundings. The energy here is so much different than back in Massachusetts… even in Salem. I feel stronger connecting with Haven, but I guess I didn't realize how the new energy would affect me when I worked with it."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that everything you do comes with a price, Duke. Even what I do, which I don't intend harm to anyone, comes at the price of taking energy from me, sometimes worse. I guess that connecting to the energy of Haven, tapping into it when I worked, I hadn't considered it might not want me using the energy on anyone else."

"Are you sure the energy isn't from the Troubles?"

"I'm sure, the energy from the aether, which caused the Troubles, has been gone since we came back to Haven together. This is the energy of the land and water itself."

"So why would Haven attack you for trying to help people, Hope?"

Before she could answer me, Sasquatch showed up. Hope clammed up. I had a feeling she knew the answer and was afraid of telling me the truth.

"Am I interrupting?" Squatch asked.

"No, we were just talking about me being on lockdown, Dwight," Hope replied before I could tell him I was in the middle of an important conversation with her.

"Hope, we'll finish this talk tonight? No matter what it is, you can tell me. I'm not gonna be upset at you, Sis."

"I'm not worried about upsetting you, Duke. I'm worried about hurting you. We'll talk more tonight," she whispered to me as she gave me a hug and kissed my cheek.

 **Dwight:**

"Do I want to know what happened back there?" I asked as Hope and I were driving back to my place.

"Just more about why I got so sick that night you came to see me," she replied.

"And there's something you're not telling him?"

She nodded.

"Why, Hope? None of us can help you if you won't tell us what happened to you."

"I told you what happened. That was true. I'm just thinking about the possibilities of what caused it and I have an idea, but I don't want to say anything unless I know for sure. And for me to know for sure, I need some time alone… I need you guys to trust me."

"Trust you to do what?"

"Technically? Part of what I need to do on my own will involve bloodletting."

"You mean…"

"I need to spill my own blood."

"Hope! You can't be serious. Isn't there another way?"

"If it's what I'm thinking, not really. Offering my blood to connect is really the only way to forge the connection to get the answers I need. But that's only part of it. If I'm right, I'll need to figure out how to fix it before Haven becomes too dangerous for me to stay."

We reached the house and went inside. I asked her more about what she was thinking was the issue. She gave me vague answers, obviously trying not to give too many details without knowing anything concrete herself. The more I looked into the eyes of this woman that I could not deny I felt something for, the more I worried for her.

I put my hand on hers and I felt the same connection I had the first night. She stopped talking and looked into my eyes. In that moment, everything stopped, nothing else mattered, there was only me and Hope. It was perfect. With my other hand, I grabbed her around her waist and pulled her into my lap, so our faces were only inches apart. I wanted to kiss her, to kiss away her uncertainty, to hold her in my arms and make her feel safe, to be whatever she wanted me to be.

Leaning in to her face, I kissed her, softly at first, not wanting to push anything she didn't want. When she seemed to like it, the kiss became deeper, and she put her arms around the back of my neck as it did. The kiss got more passionate, and I only wanted her more.

"Dwight…" she said, slightly breathless, trying to stop the kissing. "We shouldn't do this right now…"

"Why?" I asked as we both kept kissing each other, Hope running her nails down my back, making me moan deep in my throat.

"Something… wrong… with… me…" she struggled to get out as I kissed her neck. "Need… need…"

I stopped myself. She wasn't trying to stop because she wanted to. Hope was worried about what was wrong with her. I could feel how much it bothered her, how it scared her a bit. Instead of letting things get out of hand, I pulled her into my arms and just held her in a reassuring way.

"How can I help you do what you need to so you can try to figure this out?" I asked, both of us still breathing heavily.

She stayed quiet for a minute. When her breathing slowed, she snuggled into me, and I knew I was doing the right thing.

A few hours later, McHugh met Hope and I at the lookout point. She had some supplies on her, and McHugh looked skeptical.

"You want me to do _what_ , Dwight?"

"Watch her. Make sure she doesn't black out again. She needs to do some kind of ritual and I know Nathan and Duke aren't gonna let her do this. Just keep your distance and trust her. If she faints, get her out of here, and bring her to my house. I can help and keep you off the hook with Crocker."

"Why are you risking this?"

"Because she needs this. She thinks it might help her understand why she got sick. And she needs to use her blood for this ritual. Crocker _really_ wouldn't like Hope doing something like that. But if doing this can give her a direction to help her, to help _us_ figure out what to do to help her, then it's worth the risk."

"You really care about her, don't you, man?"

"Yeah, I do," I said, looking away from McHugh over to where Hope was setting up for her ritual. "Just watch her. I have to go get Lizzie from school. If you need anything, call me."

"Will do."

 **Hope:**

I knew Dwight had left, going to pick up Lizzie. My personal feeling was that he couldn't stand the idea of me hurting myself after the two of us finally stopped trying to ignore the fact we both felt something for each other. So McHugh was about 15 yards away from me, not close enough to interfere, but close enough to notice if I wasn't okay. I was okay with that. McHugh still felt guilty about hurting me when I first came to Haven. He still felt like it was his responsibility to keep me safe if anyone asked, so I knew I was safe in his hands.

I prepped the herbs, anointed myself with oils, and then, started the fire. Slowly, I began sprinkling the herbs into the fire, making my intent of clarity on whether there was an issue of my channeling the energy of Haven with my magick. Once all my herbs were in the fire I picked up the knife I had with me to add the last ingredient… my blood. With a deep cut on the palm of my right hand, I squeezed my hand into a fist, making the cut bleed more as it bled into the fire. Finally, I sat down to meditate on my answers.

 _I was seeing Haven through the years as it was Troubled. I saw Duke, killing people to end their Troubles and steal their Troubles. I saw another brother, Duke called him Wade, who was tricked into activating the Crocker Curse, and becoming addicted to the power that came with it. I saw Duke kill him to protect a Troubled woman he clearly loved. I kept seeing images like this, the times going further in the past, but it was obvious they were all ancestors of mine and Duke's. These men were all Crockers who had activated the curse for whatever reason and ultimately, they lost themselves to the curse before being killed. Suddenly, a spirit appeared in front of me._

" _No spawn of a Crocker will ever use the energy of this land to maim the people of this land again. You, daughter of Crocker, are not welcome to call on this energy to cause harm to anyone here. Every time you attempt to use your magick in Haven, you will be punished."_

" _But I…" I tried to say._

" _You have been warned," the spirit responded before pushing me out of the vision._

Being forced out of the meditative state left me shaky. Within seconds McHugh had his arms around me. Suddenly my fired blazed before going out on its own.

"What the hell was that?" McHugh asked me.

"That was the spirits of Haven giving me a warning," I said, my body shaking as if I was freezing in his arms.

"Hope, what can I do for you?"

"Can you give me my thermos? I have a special brew of tea in there just in case something happened. It should help me shake the chills. Then, I need food."

McHugh gave me my thermos, then, while I drank the tea, he cleaned and bandaged my right hand. When he finished bandaging my hand, he packed up the last of my supplies into my bag as I finished my tea before sitting down with me again.

"What are you gonna do about this warning?"

"I don't know yet. They don't trust my Crocker blood…"

"Well, if you knew…"

"They showed me the Crockers through the years, the curse. I know what they've done… including Duke, McHugh. But they were Troubled, like so many in Haven were when they did things they may not have done under other circumstances. My brother… he's not that man anymore. Even with what they showed me, I could tell he fought the curse for a long time, he just lost the fight and wound up being controlled," I explained. "But they are automatically judging me as a Crocker, claiming I will maim and injure the people of Haven. All I've done really is help some patients get better faster. I haven't caused injury to anyone. I need to find a way to prove that. Until I can, I can't use magick on anyone in Haven. If I do, I'm worried their consequences are only going to get worse for me."

"How much worse can it get, Hope?"

"If someone like me is affected enough by what they're doing, McHugh, it can kill them. If I didn't have Delia when I brought Duke back, if I didn't know what I had needed to do, I could have died bringing him back."

He looked at me with a look of shock.

"Are you seriously telling me that when you brought Crocker back, when you've helped anyone you have in Haven in the nearly two months you've been here, you've done it knowing something could go wrong and you could die?"

I nodded.

"Then why do you do it?"

"Because I'm meant to help where I can. I need to figure out why the spirits of Haven are trying to stop me."

Later that night, I was cleaning my palm when Duke came into my apartment after closing the Gull. He rushed right over to me, taking my hand in his as he took over cleaning up my palm. When he got the excess blood off and realized it was stitched and the wound was in a straight line, he looked at me confused.

"What happened here, Hope?"

"I did this, Duke."

"What the hell, Hope? I didn't take you for some chick who cut herself, especially not one who needed stitches! So will you please tell me what is going on around here? First you clam up on me this morning, now I find you with stitches for an injury you gave yourself?! I love you, Sis, but you've got me nervous right now," Duke exclaimed.

I took him by the hand and led him to the couch.

"I'm being punished by the spirits, Duke. The spirits of Haven don't trust me to use magick on anyone here. I suspected it this morning, but I didn't want to tell you without knowing anything for sure, which is why I have the slice in my right hand. I did a ritual to connect me with the spirits of Haven, to make me able to find out why my magick was so out of whack suddenly. And that's what they told me."

"You've never hurt anyone here. Why are they punishing you?" Duke asked angrily.

"Because, while my legal last name is Corey, my true name is Crocker. We both know it. Even here in Haven, people call me the Crocker girl behind our backs. And that is why they don't trust me. They showed me the effects of the Crocker Curse, how all the Crockers who activated the curse were ultimately consumed by it," I said, noticing that Duke looked away from me in shame. "Look at me, Duke. You are _not_ the man they showed me anymore. That man was affected by a curse that was tied to the Troubles, which are gone, just like that man. That doesn't matter to me. You've shown me the kind of man you are and I love you. You're my big brother and I couldn't be prouder of you."

He finally looked at me. There were tears in his eyes. I was pretty sure he expected me to push him away because of his past, knowing the truth of it now. He pulled me into a hug.

"I love you too, Hope. But I can't be selfish. Maybe you should go back to Massachusetts where you're safer?"

"I'm not leaving, Duke. I _will_ find a way to make these spirits see that I'm not a threat to anyone here in Haven, that I'm just helping people. And I think the first step may be to claim the family name that was kept from me to make sure Simon never found me. The spirits' issue could've started with my being a Crocker hiding behind another family name, one that's not connected to Haven."

"How will your grandparents feel about it?"

"I'll talk to them about it. I'm sure they'll understand. But I'm hoping if the spirits see that I'm not trying to hide my Haven lineage it might be a step in the right direction."

"Then what?"

"I may need to do another blood ritual, but it can't just be my blood involved."

"Who else will you need?"

"I need to show them that the magick I've worked has been to help, not harm… to show that I have a higher capacity for love than for hatred."

"So who do you think will work?"

"Delia for one. I put a protection spell on her that saved her life. You should definitely help. Not only did I bring you back, but I cleansed you of the Troubles in the process, leaving you as you were before you were affected by the curse."

"That's it?"

"I think I might ask Dwight," I said quietly.

"Why do you need Sasquatch?"

He looked at me carefully.

"Oh tell me that you, _my Baby Sister_ , are _not_ sleeping with Dwight Hendrickson?!"

"I'm not," I said defensively.

"Good. He's not good enough for you."

"You're my big brother, Duke. You're never gonna think _anyone_ is good enough for me."

"You may be right, but still…"

"Look, I feel _something_ towards Dwight, something that has been drawing me towards him. He makes me feel safe, makes me laugh, takes care of me."

"And what do I do?"

"I'm not saying you don't, Duke. But our connection is different than my connection to Dwight. I care about him too, I'm just not sure of the extent at this point."

"I can't talk you out of this, can I?"

"I don't think so, Big Brother."

"If he hurts you…"

"You'll do nothing. Just like I told him that anything that happens between you and his twin isn't really his business because the two of you are adults. It's complicated enough that you seem to have a thing for my best friend and I have something for her twin. We don't need to make it more complicated by getting involved in each other's business. Your sex life is your business with Delia, none of mine and Dwight's business. And whatever is going on with me and Dwight, though I can promise you I have not slept with him, will not be yours and Delia's business. I think this will be the only way these two complicated relationships will work. Can we agree on that?"

"Fine," Duke grumbled. "Only because I love you."

"I love you, too. Which is why, even though I'm not ready to go back to work, it's time for you to call off my lockdown. If I'm gonna figure out exactly what's going on with my magick, I can't have a babysitter 24 hours a day."

"Fine, but I want to hear from you every few hours so I know you're not unconscious somewhere _and_ I want you to agree to connect our phones so I can track your phone in case you _do_ black out somewhere. This way I can still find you and make sure you get the right help."

"Only because you're being paranoid with reason and out of love will I agree to this," I conceded.

"Do you need anything or should I head back to the Rouge since you're off lockdown?"

"Actually, Duke, do you mind staying and holding me while I sleep tonight?" I asked nervously.

"Are you okay?"

"Just a little nervous to sleep right now. When the ritual was ended earlier, it wasn't by me. The spirits pushed me out and ended it. I figured if you stayed and slept next to me and they tried to get back into my head, you'd realize and wake me back up," I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

Duke just looked at me. I knew he could see that I was scared, even if I was trying to hide it. Finally, he nodded at me.

"I got you, Sis. If anyone tries to mess with you in your sleep, I'll protect you. What are big brothers for?"

I chuckled at him.

"Thanks, Duke. You really are the best big brother I could ever have asked for."

 **Dwight:**

For the two weeks after our kiss, Hope had kept herself busy. McHugh told me what she'd learned in her ritual… and it made me worry more for her safety in Haven. Finally, just before the three week mark, she called me after I dropped Lizzie at school.

"Hope, I've been hoping to hear from you."

"Can we meet up? I wanted to see you."

"When and where?"

"Haven Joe's? As soon as you can get there?"

"I can be there in five."

"I'll meet you there. I'm on my way into town now."

Twenty minutes later, Hope walked into Haven Joe's. She looked different from the last time I'd seen her… her body was more lean, slightly more muscular, and a lot more tanned. It was clear she'd been spending a lot of her time outdoors exploring.

"You look good, Hope," I said, holding her seat out for her.

She smiled at me, which still made me want to protect her from everything that wanted to hurt her.

"You look good too, Dwight."

We ordered and fell into a silence. Finally, Hope broke the silence.

"I don't know what you've been told about what happened that day at the lookout point. But I've been on a sort of personal quest to find myself since."

"What do you mean?"

"I think one of the reasons the spirits immediately distrusted me was that I was a member of the Crocker line who came to Haven under a different name. Then there was my using magick on others. I believe they were automatically assuming that, like my Crocker ancestors who fell under the curse, I was out to maim, injure, or even kill people with my power. So they were punishing me."

"So what can be done?"

"I've talked to my grandparents. They've agreed that it may be safest for me to take on my father's name. We all agree I'm not giving up my family name, I'm going to make it my middle name, but I've started the process of changing my last name to Crocker. I'll worry about the next step after that. I'm worried if I try to do magick on anyone before I do that, they're going to make what happened the night I collapsed on you look like child's play now that they've warned me not to."

"So what can I do for you in the meantime?"

"Just be you," she said, her smile returning.

I reached across the table and took her hand in mine.

"I can do that. I've missed you the last few weeks."

"I've missed you too, Dwight. I've wanted to give in, to call you and go see you, but I really needed to figure myself out."

"Hope, in the last two months, you uprooted your life, moving to a new town, and you've had a lot to deal with. Of course you needed time to figure yourself out," I said reassuring her. "I may have missed you, but I get it."

"I talked to Duke that night… about the possibility of there being something between us," she said looking at our hands.

"Really?" I asked, a spark of hope blooming in my chest. "And what did he have to say?"

"He flipped out until I pointed out that just like I talked you out of his and Delia's business, anything that may or may not happen between us would be none of their business. I kinda pointed out that if the two of you were at each other's throats for being with each other's sisters then neither relationship would work and they're already complicated enough."

"And that worked?"

"When I pointed out you wanted to throttle him when you first realized Delia ran off with him, he backed off."

"You are one amazing woman, Hope," I said as I leaned over the table and kissed her.

The kiss was tender. We were in public. But it felt so natural. After a moment that felt too short, I leaned back in my seat.

"I missed that, Dwight. I'm not sure what it is I feel about you, but I feel a connection to you, something that draws me to you. I've felt it since that first night, after the relaunch of the Gull, when you came to my apartment for coffee. When you put your hand on mine and looked into my eyes, part of me wanted to just go with it, Dwight, but I was afraid of how Delia would react, afraid of destroying all of my relationships in Haven over a guy."

"What changed?"

"Realistically? The way I collapsed and the ritual a few weeks ago made it clear that unless I can prove I'm not like the members of the Crocker clan who lost their shit to the curse, I'm not guaranteed safety. The spirits are watching me carefully, and yes, I'm trying to figure out how to fix the issue, but I'm not gonna waste time. We're adults, Dwight. If we want to explore these feelings, don't we have that right?"

"So this is making you realize you don't want to waste the time you do have in your life?"

"Right. Don't take this as me trying to rush my life so I can do everything as I give up and wait for these spirits to kill me, which I have no doubt they can. I _know_ I can figure out how to handle this. But if all I'm focusing on 24 hours a day is _how_ to figure this out, I may miss something that's right in front of me. I need to find balance in my life, live it to the fullest while I puzzle this out."

"But you're sure you can stop the spirits from targeting you?"

"Yes. I've been taught about spirits that have turned against towns because they fear the changes in the town. It's the same principle here. I'm something new to these spirits. On my mom's side, my ancestry has a deep history in witchcraft. But on Simon's side, they see me only as a Crocker, another descendant of a family line that has caused so much pain and death to the people in this town. Now, even if they understand the Troubles, which were part of the reason the Crockers were cursed, here I come, under a different family name, probably the first daughter in how many generations? And to top it off, I have power that isn't connected to the Troubles, that can't just be ended the way my ancestors have typically met their end, because nobody in town wants to hurt me because I've only helped people. My power comes from the elements around me, from inside me, and from my family that have passed on before me. It's power they probably have not seen in generations, if ever, and definitely not in a Crocker. Maybe they're just worried about me using the power in a bad way, which I can figure out a way to show them that is not my intent. Or maybe they're worried I may channel a Crocker ancestor who will lead me down a bad road. Either way, I'll figure it out, Dwight."

After we had breakfast, we went for a walk along the beach. Before we knew it, we were at her place. She had me sit down on the couch as she went to grab two small boxes, handing one to me. When I opened it, I found a pendant on a cord. The pendant had a dog and moon. I looked from the pendant to her.

"What's this for?"

"Protection. I want to make sure both you and Lizzie are safe while I work this out. This pendant of the dog and moon is a symbol of Hecate, Dwight. She's a goddess of witchcraft. I've already blessed the perimeter of your house channeling her magick, it's something I can still do. This is also charged with that energy. Hecate is also a goddess of ghosts and necromancy, which means if the spirits try to get to you and Lizzie at home, if they try to get past the perimeter I've blessed with her help, she'll protect your home. This," she explained as she opened the other box, "is for Lizzie. I need to give this to her so we don't insult the goddess I channeled for help to charge it. Lizzie is a little girl, a pure, virginal child, exactly the type of child that the goddess Artemis protects. This deer pendant is a symbol of Artemis, blessed with her energy. If anything tries to harm Lizzie while she has it on her, Artemis will protect her. But Artemis isn't really fond of guys, so it's better if you don't touch this. I'll give it to Lizzie directly."

I put the pendant down and pulled Hope into my lap and kissed her. With everything else she'd been dealing with since the last time I'd seen her, she'd also been thinking about not only my safety, but my daughter's safety. It made that spark in my heart grow stronger, making me come to believe there was a chance that I might be falling in love with her.

I started to kiss Hope. The kiss deepened very quickly, and before long, both of us were topless. Even as we took things further and further.

"Dwight," she said breathless, as I started taking her pants off, between moans. "Dwight, this is a bad idea."

"Why?" I replied, just as breathless. "Don't you want this?"

She undid my button and zipper, pulling my pants down.

"Yes… But…" she started, losing her words as I bit her neck, carrying her to her bed. "Dwight, the spirits. What if they get angry?"

I started kissing her and the next thing I knew, I was inside of her. It felt amazing. Hope cried my name out as I started pumping in and out of her. Looking at her, I knew that I belonged with her, I would do anything to protect her, that I loved her with all my heart.

 **Hope:**

Being with Dwight felt incredible. I wasn't really one to sleep around, hadn't been with anyone since med school. But having Dwight inside of me felt so… _natural_. Like this was meant to be, the two of us together. I wasn't sure how long we had been going at it, but suddenly I felt a cold chill in the air of my apartment, the energy in the room changed.

"Shit, Dwight, they're pissed," I groaned. I had messed up. "The spirits are angry."

Dwight somehow found the willpower to stop himself from continuing. He helped me get dressed before things fell apart. He had barely gotten his boxers back on when they attacked. Cuts began appearing on my back as if I was being lashed.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked.

"They're angry. My energy… I lost control of it when we were having sex… It spread to you… Exactly what they told me _not_ to do in the ritual I had done," I said between wincing.

"Hope, you're bleeding!"

I was more than bleeding. I could feel my energy ebbing away faster than it did when I resurrected Duke. I didn't have the energy to say anything to Dwight anymore. He pulled out his phone. I could hear him talking to Duke, then Delia, but it sounded so far away. Before either of them got there, I collapsed because of the spirits' attack on me.

 **Duke:**

I got to Hope's house as quickly as I could. Dwight was cleaning her back. It looked really bad… and I was pissed off.

"What the hell happened to my sister, Sasquatch?" I demanded of him, restraining myself from hitting him because he was cleaning her up.

"I'm not sure. She said she lost control of her energy… it spread to me… the spirits got mad… and all of a sudden it looked like she was being whipped, Duke. All of this blood, it came pouring out of her back," he said as pale as Hope, looking like he might cry. "She turned so pale so fast. I tried to find a way to keep her conscious, but nothing worked. By the time I was off the phone with you and Lia she was out. We need Lia to get her. I can't stop her bleeding. I didn't realize the spirits were this crazy, Crocker."

I felt bad for the guy, even though looking at the two of them, I could guess what they were doing when Hope lost control of her energy. It had to suck for them, not to be able to have a normal relationship because these damned ghosts were trying to kill my sister. Not long after, Delia rushed into the apartment.

"Let me see her. The two of you, get out. This might not be pretty. Let me do my job," Delia said as she started pulling out suture kits from her medical bag.

 **Hope:**

I was unconscious because of what happened between me and Dwight for over a week. When I finally came around, Duke called Dwight right away. He knew what happened. I couldn't talk to him about it. I didn't talk about those things. It was too personal. My energy was still weak, but I had survived the spirits' punishment. Things were looking up. When Dwight got to us, Duke warned him that our clothes had to stay on and if anything else happened, he was going to introduce Dwight to his collection of guns. Dwight didn't say anything to him before he left.

"Hope, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," Dwight said as soon as Duke was gone.

I took Dwight's hand in mine.

"No, it's not. This is on me. I shouldn't have let things go that far," I said focusing on his hand as I took a deep breath. "The spirits warned me not to use my energy on anyone in Haven. That included you. I know that witches tend to spread their energy, connect on a higher level with the people that they sleep with. So I knew on some level there was a possibility there was a risk… especially since you're the first man I've slept with since I was in med school."

"Wait. Lia said you started your _internship_ nine years ago. That means it's been at least that long since you've had sex?"

"I've only slept with one other man and that ended ten years ago, when I found out he was one of the professors at my med school. I met him at the bar I worked at before my first year, but didn't know he was one of the professors until right before third year because he only taught third year students. When I got my third year program, he was my gross anatomy professor so I broke up with him. I wasn't going to sleep with my professor. I never would've started a relationship with him if I knew he taught at the school."

"Wow, Hope, I wouldn't have known."

"I don't talk about it much. It's personal. But we're on that level… especially with what happened. It's my fault Dwight… _only_ my fault. Given I've only had sex with one other person and it was a decade ago, I don't exactly have much experience controlling my energy in those situations. I should've stopped you. Can you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive. You didn't ask to be attacked by the spirits for being a Crocker," he said. "But maybe we should keep things a little more PG until we figure things out for your safety."

I gave a sad laugh.

"I think you're right. If I slip again, they're just going to get worse."

 **Duke:**

I was in court with Hope, Nathan, and Gloria. I hated being in court, but Hope needed me. She was making a huge change in her life and she needed to know I was there to support her. I knew she loved me, but I also knew what her mother's family name meant to her… and here she was in court to change her mother's family name to her middle name and take on the Crocker family name. A name that had been cursed for generations.

The judge asked Nathan why he ordered Gloria to run the DNA tests between me and Hope. When he was satisfied with the answers, he called Gloria for questioning. He asked if after her preliminary tests showed that Hope and I shared a father, if she finished the DNA testing to confirm her initial findings.

"I'm old, not retarded, Junior," Gloria replied to the Judge.

I had to stop myself from laughing and I think Nathan and Hope had to as well. Finally, when he had asked all the questions, he granted the name change, declaring Hope's new name to be Hope Corey Crocker. Before he dismissed us he looked at Nathan sympathetically.

"Chief Wuornos, good luck from here on out," he said to Nathan. "As if one Crocker in this town wasn't enough to keep us all busy, now there are two of them."

"Thank you, Your Honor," Nathan said, but I could see he was barely holding himself together.

As soon as we all got outside the four of us cracked up about what happened in the court room. I put my arm around Hope's shoulder.

"I guess you really are a Haven Crocker now, Sis," I said, still laughing. "Just you having the name has put you on that guy's suspicious persons list."

"Did you see the look of sympathy he gave Nathan, here?" Gloria asked, laughing. "He's so damn paranoid. He honestly thinks the two of you are already up to something."

"It doesn't top you putting him in his place, Gloria," Hope said.

"Well, I guess Haven is in trouble with the Crocker siblings in town. We don't really know what you two will do, do we? Duke was an evil genius on his own and Hope over here has the scientific prowess to take that to a new level," Nathan said, still smirking.

"That's right, Nathan. Be very afraid. We Crockers are here to stay," I said pulling Hope closer to me, laughing. "You thought I was hard to pin down before, now I've got a doctor on my side."

It was a good moment. She had been working on fixing her spirit problem since she collapsed nearly three months ago while she waited for the name change to happen. Now it was done, we could take things to the next level… at least after she told the Hendrickson twins what she needed from them. I wasn't going to let her live in fear in Haven. One way or the other, I would make sure that this happiness that she was showing with me, Nathan, and Gloria wasn't the last time I genuinely saw her smile. Delia may not like it, but even she was gonna have to deal with taking a backseat to helping Hope become safe again.

"Come on, Sis. I'll make you lunch at The Grey Gull," I told her.

"Fine, but I'm mixing the drinks," she said, laughing.

"I can't believe how close the two of you got in just a few months. It's been what five, six months that Hope's been here in Haven?" Nathan asked.

"Almost five months, actually," Hope said. "And no matter what Duke was like when he was cursed, he's not cursed anymore. He's an awesome big brother that I love."

Gloria looked at me shocked.

"You told her the truth about that?" she asked me.

"Not exactly. The spirits that have been after her the last few months… They showed her the Crocker Curse in all it's glory, starting with me and working down the family tree. I didn't deny anything. And she won't hold me accountable for it, says that the Crocker Curse was tied to the Troubles, so the curse is gone with the Troubles, as is the man the curse made me," I said looking at my sister, my reminder that I can forgive myself for some of the things I've done.

"You guys are really are that close aren't you, Kid?" Gloria asked.

"Yeah, Doc. We are," I answered.

Hope and I left, heading back to the Grey Gull. It was one of the quieter days we would have for a while.

A few days later, I went over to the Gull to check on her around the time we'd do yoga together. I could tell she'd been up for a while. And she was doing yoga poses on the rail outside her apartment. Without calling out to her, not wanting to scare her and make her fall, I ran up the stairs. I stayed close enough that if she wobbled I could grab her. Thankfully, she held the pose and when she was starting to come out of it, I helped her down off the rail. That's when I noticed the cut on her shoulder.

"Hope…"

"They're upset still. I found a way to protect the people who mean the most to me from them. I cast magick in Haven that didn't involve using the energy of Haven, power that is more powerful than them, to protect you, Delia, Dwight, and Lizzie."

"The way they're coming after you, what the hell is more powerful than these spirits, Hope? And how did you protect me without me knowing?"

"As for what's more powerful… gods are more powerful than spirits. And I protected you both by calling on the god of the seas, Poseidon to protect the Cape Rouge, as well as the trident pendant I asked you to wear at all times."

I looked at her and I knew she saw shock on my face.

"You… you can call on ancient gods?"

She nodded.

"It takes energy, just like anything else I do, so I don't do it often. But these are extenuating circumstances. I wasn't going to let anything happen to any of you while I worked all of this out."

"But it made the spirits angrier?"

"Yeah. I was in town, picking up a package from the post office that my grandparents sent, supplies… herbs, oils, things like that. Just as I was about to put it in the SUV yesterday afternoon I felt something tear at my shoulder, nearly making me drop the box. Like they're trying to keep me from gathering supplies. I took care of it as best as I could, considering where it is, but I couldn't really sleep after that."

"We're dealing with this… today. Call Dwight. I'll call Delia."

After we had breakfast and I took care of Hope's shoulder, I drove us to meet Dwight and Delia. I carried Hope's supplies while she sat Dwight and Delia down and told them what she needed. I watched as Dwight became more and more concerned, especially when she flinched as he touched the shoulder that was now injured. Maybe he wasn't that bad for her after all. When she was done talking, I brought the supplies over and let Hope set up.

"Is she really okay?" Dwight asked me as he came to stand near me.

"She says she is, but the cut on her shoulder looked pretty bad, and she didn't really sleep last night."

"So should she be doing this right now, Duke?"

"Considering I know it can drain her energy? I would normally say no. But seeing as how these spirits are attacking her, making her scared to sleep, I don't think there's much of a choice. I don't like this, but no matter what we do, we're leaving her at risk, and I'm removing that option. She's protected all of us. It's made the spirits more pissed off. We need to stop this… somehow."

"I'm ready. Let's get started," Hope called to us.

Dwight and I let her place us on either side of her, with Delia across from her. She lit the fire.

"I'm not 100 percent sure what's going to happen when we mix our blood and I put it into the fire. Last time, I was pulled into a vision by the spirits. This time, the intent is proving that my magick is not meant to harm anyone, that Duke is Crocker Curse-free and not a danger to Haven, that we are capable of love, unlike the many Crockers that came before us and fell victim to the curse," Hope explained. "There is a chance I will be pulled into a trance-like state alone. Don't panic if that happens, it means the spirits are only going to communicate with me. But there is a chance they will pull all four of us in. If they do that, you can't lie to the spirits. They already know our deepest secrets and fears. Lying to them will only make things worse for all of us."

She pulled out a knife, sliced her right palm open and held it over a chalice. After bleeding into the chalice for 20 or 30 seconds, she passed the knife and chalice to me, telling me to do the same thing and pass it on to Delia. When we had all bled into this cup, Hope whispered some words over it.

"Are you guys all ready?"

We all nodded at her.

She got up, started sprinkling the herbs into the fire until they were gone. Then she poured our mixed blood into the flames. When the chalice was empty, she sat back down and told us to focus on what she had told us to. I didn't think anything was working… Until I looked up and saw myself in the police station threatening to kill Vicky, having destroyed the aether core.

"They pulled us all in," I muttered to myself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

 **Delia:**

" _You let the spawn of Crocker use you. Because the daughter of Crocker saved your life?" a bodiless voice asked from around me._

 _I started seeing one of the more intense experiences between me and Duke. It had left me bruised for almost a week, sore for days. Watching what we did as an observer, even now I could see how rough he was with me. I knew that I should talk to him about that, but I doubted I would._

" _No. What's happening with me and Duke has nothing to do with Hope. She has no idea about the details, how… intense things are."_

" _Abusive you meant to say."_

" _Duke isn't abusive."_

" _How hurt were you after this?"_

" _He would've stopped if I asked him to," I said, defending him._

" _Then why didn't you?"_

 **Duke:**

 _I was surrounded by Gloria, Vicky, Nathan, and Audrey. I was watching as I threatened to kill Vicky and anyone who got in my way. Finally, I was forced to watch as Nathan ended my life, Audrey trying to soothe me as my life was snuffed out on my terms, Vicky and Gloria crying in the background, and me seeing the last thing Vanessa told me I would ever see… Nathan's Guard tattoo._

" _You should not have been returned to this life spawn of Crocker," a voice said._

" _Are you the ones punishing my sister?"_

" _She is a Crocker, one with powers we've yet to see manifest in a descendant of a Crocker. Your family is already capable of such great destruction," the voice replied, showing me some of the things me, Wade, my father, and others in the Crocker clan had done to the people of Haven over the years. "The daughter of Crocker has much more potential for destruction, without the Troubles to power her."_

" _My sister hasn't hurt anyone since she's been in Haven."_

" _And you?"_

" _I haven't…"_

" _LIES!" the voices said in unison as searing pain in my head bringing me to my knees._

 **Dwight:**

" _You were a faithful member of the Guard. You know what the Crocker family can do. Why are you trusting them?"_

" _I don't know who you are, but I know Hope and Duke has_ earned _my respect. Hope saved my sister's life. Duke was ready to die to save Haven…_ did die _to save Haven. He told me how to save my daughter. I didn't automatically trust either of them. But they_ earned _my trust and respect._

" _Hope relocated to be with the brother she'd never met, to bring him back, and help him adjust after she did. The way she brought him back, she made sure that all of the Troubles inside of him were stripped away when all the other Troubles were stripped outta here. When she wasn't doing that she was spending time with Gloria so she could go back into retirement and helping at the hospital, where she was using her abilities to_ help _her patients heal faster. So my question is, if she's_ helped _the citizens of Haven, not causing any harm to anyone, why do_ you _have a problem?"_

" _She has the blood of a Crocker… the blood of a killer."_

" _And yet, she also has the blood of the Corey family, who raised her, taught her to be the woman she is. She has done nothing to earn wrath and punishment from you. Even with everything she's been enduring because of you, she has gone out of her way to protect me and my daughter, Lizzie, Delia and Duke."_

" _And left herself vulnerable to us."_

" _What?"_

" _The more she called on higher powers to protect all of you, the more vulnerable she became to being punished by us. If she does not pass our trials today, she may not wake up."_

Suddenly I was awake by the fire. I ran to Hope's side. She was cold and seemed like she was in pain. I drank the tea she gave each of us when she called us to this ritual to steady myself and picked up my phone.

"Nathan, it's Dwight. I need a favor…"

 **Hope:**

 _It looked like the spirits had brought me to Haven right after Duke had lost Jennifer, when he first started needing to release Troubles. At first, the spirits just let me follow Duke's movements for a bit, showed me how he released Troubles, how they affected other people. Then they seemed to put a test in front of me._

 _I hadn't noticed at first, but I was no longer wandering unseen among the vision. Instead, I was part of it. I brushed against a Troubled person who was injured, I didn't even see who. Their blood hit my bare forearm and I doubled over as their blood dissolved into my skin… activating the Crocker Curse in me._

 _I cried out in pain, the feeling of the Curse was so unnatural to me. Someone touched me. I looked up and saw that it was Nathan. He was shocked by what I guessed were the telltale silver Crocker eyes that came with Troubled blood. Part of me wanted to hurt him, the Curse was calling for it. Instead, I begged him not to touch me and I ran. I wasn't going to give into this Curse inside of me, especially since I knew it was only active as long as I was in the vision._

" _You can't fight everything. All this Troubled blood. Your true nature will show itself, Hope Crocker," I heard the spirits._

" _You don't know anything about my true nature! I'm not going to hurt anyone!" I shouted back in anger at the spirits._

" _Your brother Duke tried to say the same thing," they replied._

 **Duke:**

" _What are you talking about?" I yelled, trying to hold myself together through the pain._

 _Suddenly they were showing me Delia… the things we'd done together… and what she looked like after the fact. I was hurting her and she never told me._

" _She never said anything to me! I wouldn't have gone that far if she'd asked me not to!" I defended myself. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not that!"_

 _I watched as she winced in pain cleaning herself up. My heart ached for her. I couldn't even be mad at Delia. I was worried about her. Why would she let me hurt her like this over and over? I reached out, trying to comfort the woman in the vision._

" _I wouldn't hurt Delia," I said, pain in my voice. "Why would she not stop me?"_

 _I looked up, wondering what the spirits were going to do now. They put me actively into the vision._

" _Duke!" Delia said in surprise, trying to cover up her pain._

 _She immediately tried to distract me by going for my pants. As much as it would have been easy to let her, I stopped her. I carried her to her room. After grabbing a bucket of ice and filling her tub with cold water, I brought her back to the bathroom, placing her in the cold water to take care of the injuries._

" _Delia, why do you let me do this to you?" I asked her, as I stroked her hair._

" _Because I have to," she replied._

" _What? Why?" I asked confused._

" _Because it's all I've ever been good for, Duke."_

 **Delia:**

 _The spirits had me facing Duke in my vision. He had put me in an ice bath and was stroking my hair, taking care of me. I wasn't sure he'd go this far, but I knew he wouldn't hurt me if I told him he was. As he stroked my hair, realizing how hurt I was, I could see tears in his eyes. I figured the Duke in my vision was a figment of my imagination, so I did what Hope said we should do, be honest since lying could make everything worse._

" _What do you mean this is all you've ever been good for, Delia?"_

 _It wasn't easy to answer him, even in this vision, but I finally started talking._

" _When me and Dwight were little, our mom walked out on us, Duke. Our father was a drunken bastard with a hand problem. He'd beat the hell out of us if we got into any trouble or if he was having a bad day. Dwight tried to shield me from that as much as he could. But at night, by the time we were about ten or so, the Troubles were around last time, he started coming into my room at night._

" _He took everything from me Duke… and he was rough and made sure he hurt me while he did it. He made it clear that I was his… and unlike my mother I couldn't get away from him. It took everything for me to keep Dwight from figuring it out. He still doesn't know."_

" _This is why when you get drunk you get so… sexual?" Duke asked me._

" _How did you…"_

" _Hope told me to watch you. She was worried after the first night at the Gull that you were gonna start drinking again. She told me she trusted me with you, but if you were drunk that I should try to stay sober to make sure you stayed safe."_

" _You're not a figment of the vision, are you, Duke?" I said, my worst fear coming true._

" _No, Delia, I'm not. It seems these spirits merged our visions to show me what I was doing to you and I'm guessing to see if you would stop me," he said, pulling me into his embrace. "I am so sorry for what you went through for all those years, that you went through it alone, but letting other people hurt you isn't the answer. I_ can't _keep hurting you, Delia. I won't."_

" _I thought you cared about me, Crocker."_

" _I do. I don't know if I love you, just like I don't know if you love me, but I care about you enough to say I can't do this to you anymore," Duke said to me. "I'm sorry."_

Duke and I woke up at the same time. I tossed him his tea before I drank mine. Dwight was looking between the two of us confused.

"What happened between the two of you?" he asked me.

"Nothing," I said, getting my things together. "Do you two have things here? I think I'm gonna go back to your place and take Lizzie off of McHugh's hands."

"Go, Lia. We can talk later."

"Delia… I'm sorry," Duke said to me.

As I walked away, I heard Dwight ask Duke what he was sorry about. I stayed in earshot long enough to hear Duke's answer.

"The spirits showed me I'm no good for her Sasquatch… so I ended it," Duke said.

 **Hope:**

" _You can't run from your lineage," the spirits said to me._

" _You can't force me to give in to a darkness that is not natural to me."_

" _It is natural to you. The blood of the Troubled exhilarates you, excites you. You_ need _it."_

" _No, I don't."_

" _But you're a Crocker. This is your legacy," said a man behind me._

 _I turned slowly and saw a man I could identify as Simon Crocker. I took a step away from him. As I did, he took a step towards me._

" _Stay back," I said to him._

" _Why should I? You're my daughter, aren't you?" he asked me._

" _How…"_

" _When you die you figure things out. I thought that someone like you would know that, with what your mother and her lot apparently were."_

" _Then you should know that I'm not like you."_

" _Really?" he asked as he took a bloody knife and wiped it over the palm of my hand._

 _I could feel the Troubled blood as my skin absorbed it. Falling to my knees I fought what I was feeling. It was too unnatural to me._

" _Why are you doing this to me?" I said, looking at Simon._

" _Because you're my daughter and the Crockers are meant to heal people of their Troubles. Aren't you a healer, Hope?"_

" _Not like this, Simon."_

 _He hit me hard in the side of my face._

" _I'm your father. Show me respect."_

 _I had never been hit like that before. Grams and Gramps didn't believe in corporal punishment._

" _This isn't how I heal someone of their afflictions. I can't take a life. It's unnatural to me," I tried to plead with him._

" _You'll see how it's done," he said, looking behind him. "Bring him up!"_

 _Duke was coming into the clearing Simon had followed me into. He had Dwight with him and he was bleeding. I wanted to save him, but I was scared to try to get past Simon._

" _End his family affliction, Duke," Simon said, and Duke shot Dwight, making me scream._

 _Dwight's blood was on Duke and I could feel his life force fading. I tried to force myself past Simon. He sliced my arm as I tried and in my shock, he was able to grab me and throw me backwards. When I was able to get to my feet, I knew Dwight was gone._

" _NO!" I screamed, shoving past both Simon and Duke to Dwight._

 _Holding Dwight in my arms, I started to focus. I could feel the spirits fighting me, but I didn't care. Dwight wasn't supposed to be dead. Pain was radiating everywhere in me, but I was going to find a way to do this, to bring him back._

 **Duke:**

Dwight and I were pacing back and forth, watching Hope. It was when a gash opened up on her arm and she started crying that we both went from worried to freaked out.

"What the hell was that, Crocker?" he asked me.

"I don't know. I don't know what the fuck they're doing to my sister," I said, finding the knife she had us all use to combine our blood. "But I'm gonna find a way back to her. Keep an eye on us Sasquatch."

"Duke! Wait!"

"Why?"

"I don't know what they're doing, but they mentioned some kind of trials to me. They said if she didn't prove herself…"

"If she didn't prove herself, _what_ , Dwight?"

"They said if she didn't prove herself she might not wake up. Help her, Duke. Bring her back and be careful. These spirits aren't playing around. I seemed to have gotten it the easiest."

I cut my hand again, then combined it with the blood from the gash. Finally, I let the blood flow into the fire.

 _I was standing in a clearing. Hope was with our father and me. She was leaning over someone. When I got closer to her, I realized it was Dwight, and he was dead. There was a bloody knife in Simon's hand… he cut her. And the other me had a gun… he killed Dwight._

 _I rushed to Hope's side. She was looking pale and weak. I put my hand on her shoulder and she looked at me. I didn't expect that._

" _Don't touch me! You killed him!"_

" _No! Hope, I didn't," I said, making her stand up, realizing she had lost her grip on what was and wasn't real in the vision. "Look at me, Hope! I'm your big brother. I would never do anything to hurt you."_

" _Then why did you shoot him, Duke?" she asked desperately collapsing into my arms._

 _My bloody hand touched her bare arm and she flinched from me._

" _What's wrong?" I asked her._

" _Why didn't your blood affect me?"_

" _Affect you…" I looked at her then at other me and our father. "You have the Crocker Curse, don't you, Hope?"_

 _Still crying, she nodded at me._

" _Why are you doing this to her?" I called to the spirits._

" _To teach her she is no different than any other Crocker," the reply came._

" _Really? How's that going for you? Has she gone on a killing spree after people with Troubles, since I assume they still exist here?"_

 _I made Hope look into my eyes, crouching down to her height._

" _Hope, focus on me. The me right in front of you. I'm your big brother. I'm the one you brought back from the dead and told that you would never judge me for my past because my past was connected to the Crocker Curse which was connected to the Troubles which are gone. And Dwight, for some reason, you've gotten closer and closer to in the five months you've been in Haven, after the Troubles have been gone for good. He's watching over us right now, because a new cut appeared on your body and you were crying, so I came back to try to find and help you. None of this is real, Hope. The spirits are messing with your head, trying to make you think you're something you're not. Don't let them, Hope. You're the only Crocker that's cared more about others than themselves I've ever met. You risked everything to bring me back. I love you, Baby Sister. Don't let them take you away from me."_

 _She blinked a few times. Dead Dwight and other me disappeared. Unfortunately, Simon was still there._

" _Duke?" Hope said to me as if coming out of a haze._

" _Yeah, Sis. I'm here. I'm not leaving you alone."_

" _How sweet, Duke. Is this what it would have taken you to have followed your legacy to begin with? Knowing you had a sister that you needed to protect? Because it didn't seem to matter that you had brothers."_

" _When are you actually going to_ stay _in hell already? I thought we went over this before, I didn't like you when you were alive. My opinion hasn't changed since you died. Leave us alone."_

 _Hope was shaking in my arms._

" _Are you okay, Sis?"_

 _Simon lunged at us. He cut us both, but there was still Troubled blood dripping on his knife. Both of us hit the floor because of the Crocker Curse._

 **Hope:**

" _How is he doing this to us?" Duke asked through his pain._

 _I tried to focus through the curse. Duke reminded me that I wasn't in my body. Which meant that our Crocker Curse would only be active here, because it couldn't exist in our bodies. I forced myself to my feet._

" _I'm not you," I said to Simon. "You can't force me to be you. You've been dead since Duke and I were children. The Troubles are gone. The Crocker Curse has been ended."_

 _Simon came at me again, but I was ready for him. I felt Duke get to his feet behind me, but I put my arm out to stop him. As I let my energy build up, I let a cleansing energy go on Simon. The amount of energy released brought me to my knees, but it brought Simon to his knees as well._

" _What did you do to me, Hope?" he asked me._

 _Duke helped me up and over to Simon._

" _Blessed you with a cleansing energy, to release all of the anger that you've kept pent up even after your death. That energy will help you face what your family has always had thrust upon you, not by choice, but by force, so you can heal," I said. "It is this pent up anger, the rage, the prejudice against anyone different that kept my mother from ever telling you that I existed. She kept tabs on you until I was born, told her parents about you so they would make sure to keep me safe from you. They promised because they knew when I was born she would die."_

" _And they probably hate you for it," Simon said to me._

" _No, they don't. I've had a good life. My grandparents taught me all about my mother, about you, your curse, and why my mother didn't want me anywhere near you. They also told me I had a destiny to come to Haven one day to help my brother. And I did, I came to Haven and met Duke and we've become so close. Maybe it was because the Troubles and the Crocker Curse weren't factors in our relationship. But I love my brother. Maybe if you had chosen a different path with your life, maybe then we would have been meant to be in each other's lives. But we weren't. So just go, I'm not going to do anything that will hurt you, even though you've hurt me. That's not how I was taught to do things. I'm not like you, I know how to live and let go."_

 _Duke was holding me and I knew I was bloody and shaky in his arms._

" _Maybe you should listen to her. She's more like her mom than any Crocker. Just let her be. She doesn't want to be like you and she doesn't want to hurt you. Now, I may not want to hurt anyone, but you hurt my baby sister here… cut her up pretty good. Forget what you did to me. I've dealt with worse, but you hurt Hope, Old Man. I may decide you may be worth hurting."_

" _Duke, don't," I said to him. "It won't solve anything. And I just want you to hold me. I feel cold and weak."_

 _Simon faded away and suddenly I realized how much weaker I was. Duke must've noticed because he carefully put me down on the ground._

 **Duke:**

" _What more do you want from us?" I shouted at the spirits. "We've already proven we're not going to just run around hurting anyone! Hope could've hurt Simon! She could've hurt the me in the vision you had kill Dwight! All she did was try to bring Dwight back! How else can we show you that she isn't a threat to anyone?"_

 _Hope was so cold and pale in my arms. She was losing blood from the different places our darling father had cut her. At first, I thought the spirits were just going to let her die in my arms, here in the vision. Finally, they answered me._

" _Very well, Spawn of Crocker. We shall return you both to your bodies. If she is strong enough to survive the injuries she sustained on her journeys here, we will allow her usage of the energies of Haven."_

Just like that, we were back in our bodies. I still felt woozy. I crawled over to Hope. She was as cold and pale as she was in the vision.

"Dwight, help me get her cleaned up. Please," I asked him frantically. "She's losing a lot of blood."

Dwight started helping me to bandage Hope up. Behind us, I noticed the fire had gone out. Suddenly, I noticed that Nathan was there.

"What the hell happened?" Nathan asked.

"Hope's been dealing with some issues… and we tried to solve them," Dwight said, staying clear headed. "Spirits that didn't want her doing magick in Haven… accused her of trying to hurt the people here. We tried to face them together to prove them wrong. They attacked Duke and Hope the worst."

"We need to get her somewhere safe," I said, panicking.

"It needs to be either my house or the Cape Rouge," Sasquatch said.

"What? Why?"

"The spirits. They said as she protected us she made herself vulnerable to them. I think she'll be safer with one of us," he explained. "I think she'll be better with you. Besides, I don't want Lizzie to see Hope like this. She likes your sister."

"So she protected all of us instead of herself?" I asked desperately.

"Yeah, Duke. We need to get her to the Cape Rouge. You and Nathan get her to the Rouge. I'll go to her place, get some of her things."

Dwight rushed off on us. I looked up at Nathan. He had started packing Hope's stuff while Dwight had helped me bandage her up.

"You got her stuff, Nathan?"

"Yeah, Duke. We'll put her in my truck. Follow behind me in your car. I'll put it on the radio to clear the way for the two of us from here to the Rouge. Then I'll call Gloria and ask her to meet us there with some supplies to keep her taken care of until she wakes up."

"Nathan… what if…"

"She's gonna wake up, Duke. She's _your_ sister. You're not gonna lose her now," Nathan reassured me.

 **Delia:**

I felt horrible when I found out what Duke and Hope had been through. I had just left them with my brother and Hope had been in some kind of coma since. Duke hired Paige to stay on the Cape Rouge when neither he nor Dwight could be there. Gloria and I were rotating checking on her IVs, injuries, and vitals. It had been a week already. Her wounds were healing, but she had yet to wake up.

After checking on Hope while Duke was at the Gull, I went by Dwight's house. I figured I'd check up on him. I hadn't been able to get over to his house much since the thing with the spirits.

"Hey Dwight," I called, letting myself in.

Dwight was sitting on the couch just staring off into space. It worried me. I knew he and Hope were close, but I didn't like that it was having such an impact on him. After all, he had Lizzie.

"Dwight?" I said, touching him lightly on the shoulder.

He jumped at my touch, before relaxing when he realized it was me.

"Lia, sorry, I was lost in thought."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a lot on my mind."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I got off the easiest. I pretty much just got pushed to defend why I trust Hope and Duke. You and Duke seemed broken when you both came out of things together. All I know is what he told me, that they showed him he was bad for you and so he ended things between you. Then Duke went back in after Hope when she started getting cut up and they both came out more cut up, but she hasn't woken up yet. Duke won't even tell me what happened when he went back in. He looks haunted, but all he does now is look after Hope and take care of business."

"So you don't know what happened to Hope and Duke?"

He shook his head at me.

"I just don't know what they did to you that made you run off, Lia. Duke didn't seem happy himself, but you couldn't get out of there fast enough. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. It's personal, stuff between me and Duke," I said to my brother. "Besides, I wanted to let you know that I just came from the Cape Rouge. Paige is with Hope right now, but we should be able to remove her stitches in the next day or so. Her vitals are still coming up slowly, but there hasn't been any drops in blood pressure or oxygen levels, so that is definitely a good sign."

"But you still don't know when she'll wake up?"

"I'm sorry, Dwight. I wish I did. But I know the same thing that you, Duke, and Nathan know… she needs to heal from whatever the spirits did to her on her own. What Gloria and I are doing… it's like putting a bandaid on a surgical wound. It won't do much on it's own. Hope needs to come back to us on her own."

"I hope she's strong enough," Dwight said to me. "Those spirits were putting her through hell."

"Hope is _very_ strong, Dwight. Give her time. I'm sure she'll come around."

 **Duke:**

It had been nearly two weeks since Hope had slipped into a coma and had been moved onto the Cape Rouge for her protection. I hated seeing her the way she was. She looked so frail.

"You're missing some very good spiked coffee, Sis," I said, standing at the door to her room on the Rouge.

Everything looked more or less the same as it had since we'd brought her onto the boat. She had slightly more color to her and according to the machine that was keeping track of her vital signs, they were basically normal. Based on this, I would guess she could wake up at any moment. Suddenly, I heard someone calling me from up on the deck of the Rouge.

"Hello? I'm looking for Mr. Duke Crocker?" the female voice called.

I made my way up to the deck, hoping this woman wasn't going to be some kind of trouble. When I got up to the deck, I noticed the olive complexion, soft brown hair, she was wearing black skinny jeans and a red tank top.

"Are you Mr. Duke Crocker?" she asked me, as she turned around to notice me, making me notice her hazel colored eyes.

"Yes, I am, call me Duke. And you are…"

"Amelia Corey. You can call me Mila. I'm here about my cousin Hope," she said.

"You're Hope's cousin?"

"And you're her brother. Small world, isn't it, Duke?" she said, giving me a dazzling smile. "Where is Hope?"

"Follow me," I said leading her below decks. "She hasn't woken in nearly two weeks. Me and Dwight… I guess he's her boyfriend… we've been trying to keep her grandparents updated with whatever we knew as we found out."

"I know. My family really does appreciate that. But we figured at this point her issue isn't necessarily a medical issue," Mila told me.

"Before I let you in there, I want to tell you, I had no idea that she had put protection on me or my boat. Hell, I didn't know she had put protection on anyone using ancient gods until I saw that she had been attacked by the spirits. I pushed her to do the ritual to try to put an end to all of it. I didn't know until after it had all been started that she had done all of that leaving herself vulnerable to the spirits."

"I know you didn't, Duke."

"You believe me?"

"I can read it on you. You're genuinely concerned and feel very guilty for the shape that Hope is in. You need to understand that it's not your fault. We all make our own choices, our own paths, as you did when you chose to die to protect everyone here in Haven. Regardless of your mistakes, you have a good heart," she said putting her hand over my heart. "Now, let's go check on Hope."

I led Mila into Hope's quarters. She went straight to check her vitals and her injuries. She completely removed the bandages from Hope's arms. In their place, she applied some kind of ointment that she pulled out of her bag. Where there had been redness from the injuries Hope had suffered in the vision, her skin was turning back to its normal color. The cuts, which weren't as deep since they had been stitched, didn't seem as angry on her skin anymore. Instead they looked as if they were further along the healing process than they had been a few minutes before.

Next, Mila took an oil and put it over Hope's forehead and her heart. Almost immediately, Hope's color fully returned to normal. Like she hadn't been on the mend from a near-death experience since she'd been on my boat.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed. "That's a nice set of party tricks you've got there."

"This is nothing. I'm not even using my energy really. These items are already charged by a group of family members for these purposes. They just get past along where they're needed."

"So what other party tricks do you have?"

Mila smiled at me as she pulled a pendant out of her bag. It looked valuable, like the type of thing I had been paid to smuggle into the country before.

"What is that?"

"One of many family heirlooms," she said mischievously.

She put the pendant on a necklace before fastening it around Hope's neck. As soon as the necklace was clasped, Hope's eyes opened, for the first time in nearly two weeks.

 **Hope:**

"What the hell just happened?" I asked sitting upright suddenly.

I looked around me. I was on the Cape Rouge. Duke was standing a few feet away from me, looking kind of pale. There was an IV in my arm. I pulled it out. When I did I noticed Mila standing next to me.

"Mila?" I asked confused. "What are you doing in Haven?"

"Are you serious, Little One?" she asked as she hugged me. "I came back to the east coast as soon as I could when I found out that you were in trouble. Sorry it took so long, Cuz. I had some… loose ends to tie up before I could get back to Massachusetts and come up here."

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Almost two weeks, Sis," Duke said, coming to the other side of me, hugging me as soon as Mila let me go. "The spirits finally let the two of us go, but they said you needed to survive your injuries and then they'd let you access Haven's energy. Dwight told me you'd be safer here or his place, but with Lizzie, he thought here was better. He's been coming by every day, though. I can't get rid of Sasquatch. The things I do for you, Baby Sister."

"Thanks, Duke," I said holding him tighter.

"How are you feeling, Sis?"

"I feel fine, actually. Sore in some places, but other than that, I feel pretty good," I said turning to Mila. "Thank you."

"How did you wake her up so easily?" Duke asked.

"The pendant. It's a symbol of the god Apollo. He's a god of healing among other things. As healers, he's one of our family's patron gods. On top of it, that _specific_ pendant belonged to Penny. She wore it until the day she died, when she passed it on to her mother to hold on to for you until the time was right. Apparently, Grams thought that time was now," Mila said.

I looked at the pendant carefully. It was something that belonged to my mother.

"This was my mother's?" I asked in amazement, holding back tears.

"Yeah, Little One. It's not just Apollo that will look after you while you wear that pendant. Your mother will as well," Mila said, rubbing my shoulder.

I started crying. I hadn't cried over my mother in years. Even though I never knew her physically, I knew so many stories about her and sometimes, I did feel her absence in my life.

"Can I get either of you anything? I think I should go up on deck real quick and let Nathan, Gloria, Dwight, and Delia know that you're awake, Sleeping Beauty," Duke said, and I could tell he wanted to give me and Mila a few minutes alone.

"Spiked coffee?" I asked.

He laughed.

"Sure, Baby Sister. One shot or two?"

"Three. I've been out for almost two weeks, right? That means there is absolutely no alcohol in my system. That is blasphemy," I said trying to laugh through my tears.

"Fine," Duke said, giving in to me. "Mila, coffee? Tea? Bourbon? Scotch? Anything?"

"Spiked coffee doesn't sound bad," she said smiling at him.

Duke smiled back at her and his eyes lit up.

"Two spiked coffees for the lovely ladies aboard my boat. As soon as I make these phone calls," Duke said as he walked away.

"Your brother is kinda cute, Cuz," Mila said to me when Duke left.

"You know he can hear you up on deck, right?"

"So what?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Help me get washed up. I want out of these pajamas, especially if our friends are gonna rush over here after hearing I'm up. I want a real shower and real clothes."

"Are these all your things?" Mila asked, looking at the bags of things that somebody obviously rushed to grab from my place.

"No. I don't live on the Rouge anymore. I haven't in a few months," I told her. "I guess someone brought these over after the ritual."

"So where do you live if not with your brother?"

"I live above his bar, The Grey Gull. Can you just pick something decent for me to change into after a shower? Keep in mind in two weeks I've probably lost a few pounds, being on an IV instead of a normal diet."

"I gotcha, Cuz. Go take your shower," Mila said as I walked away from her.

 **Dwight:**

I was getting ready to leave to drop Lizzie off at school when my phone started ringing. It was Duke.

"Is everything okay with Hope?"

"Sasquatch… you're not gonna believe it… Hope is awake. She's walking around below decks with her cousin Mila who just showed up on my boat a little while ago."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding.

"I'm coming to the Rouge as soon as I drop Lizzie at school," I said to him.

"No. I figure you, Delia, and at this point even Nathan, Paige, and Gloria are gonna want to see her. Meet at the Gull. I'll make waffles. She's gotta eat anyway. Can you just do me a favor and call your sister and have her call Gloria? I'll handle Nathan and Paige. We'll meet on the deck at the Gull as soon as she's ready to go."

"Alright, Duke. See you guys there."

Hope was awake. A cousin came to Haven and helped her. Things were looking up. Now if only I could figure out what was going on with my sister.

"Lizzie! Let's go! Time for school!" I called to my daughter.

Lizzie came running down the stairs, ready to go. As we were walking out the door, McHugh was coming up the steps.

"I thought I'd take Lizzie to school so you could go check on Hope," he offered.

"Hop in. We'll drop Lizzie together and I'll explain."

After I dropped Lizzie, I explained what Duke had told me about Hope and her cousin.

"So after almost two weeks a cousin just shows up and wakes her out of the blue? She's okay?" he asked.

"We're gonna see for ourselves. We're heading over to the Gull. Duke is bringing them both over there to meet up with all of us who know what's been going on with her."

"You don't sound like you believe this, Dwight."

"I saw the shape she was in when Duke woke up. Those spirits… McHugh… they did a real number on her. I guess I'll feel better when I see her with my own eyes."

"Are you in love with Little Crocker?"

I didn't answer for a minute. I thought about the way my heart felt like it had been shredded when I saw the shape she was in, knowing there was nothing I could do to help her.

"I think I might be."

We rode basically in silence for the rest of the way to the Gull. When we got there, a woman in a red tank top was sitting by one of the tables on the deck. She had similar features to Hope.

"You must be Mila. I'm Dwight, this is McHugh. Where are…"

"Duke and Hope?"

I nodded at her.

"Hi Dwight," I heard her voice behind me. "McHugh, it's nice to see you again."

I turned around to see Hope, coming down from her apartment in a simple black sundress with a purple sweater open over it, covering where the gashes had appeared on her body. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her. I closed the distance between us almost instantly, picking her up in my arms, feeling her warmth, feeling _her_ … alive and awake in my arms. As I put her back down on her feet, I lifted her face to mine and kissed her, something I had missed doing.

"I missed you too, Dwight," she said as our foreheads rested against each other.

"Already, Sasquatch? Really?" Duke said coming out of the Gull with coffee.

Hope started to laugh and I couldn't help but laugh with her.

"Guys, this is my cousin, Mila. She just got into town this morning, sent by my family," Hope explained as an introduction to her cousin.

"Why now?" McHugh asked. "You've been down for almost two weeks."

"Because, her body needed time to heal from the physical trauma she endured from the spirits," Mila started to explain. "Show them, Hope."

Hope took off her sweater and we could see the gashes that had been on her back on her arms… looking a lot better than they had just yesterday.

"With her body recuperating enough, regaining her blood volume, starting the healing process on its own… she was basically ready to come around," Mila said as Hope put the sweater back on. "She just needed a little help. So I came."

"And you had to wait two weeks?" McHugh pushed.

"I wasn't even on the east coast until recently. I got to Maine as soon as I could _after_ making a stop by the family in Massachusetts for supplies."

"McHugh, really, it's okay. Mila did more than wake me up. She gave me a piece of my mother. I owe her so much," Hope said, as she slid her finger under a necklace that she'd never worn since I'd known her.

We spent some time with Duke, Mila, McHugh, Nathan, Paige, Gloria, and Delia, who only stayed long enough to make sure Hope was okay and show her relief, before McHugh volunteered to get Lizzie, Nathan and Paige went their own way, Gloria went back to work, and Duke took Mila out for coffee. Finally, I brought Hope upstairs to her apartment.

"I've missed you so much, Hope," I said, as I started to take her sweater off, but she stopped me.

"Dwight, no," she said to me.

"Why?"

"I don't want you to see those ugly marks on me," she replied.

I led her to the couch and sat down with her.

"Take off your sweater, Hope," I said to her gently.

She hesitated, but ultimately, she did it, looking away from me. As gently as I could, I kissed each of her injuries.

"Hope… I don't care if you are Hope Corey or Hope Crocker or Hope Corey Crocker. I don't care if you have scars from fighting for your life while you fought to protect all of us. What I _do_ care about is that you know that I love you… scars and all. You don't have to be self-conscious around me about these. I will kiss the pain away, they won't make me see you any differently."

"What did you say?" she asked me in shock.

"I said I love you, Hope," I said again, as I lifted her face to mine and kissed her deeply. "Nothing is going to make me stop loving you, Hope. Just remember that."

Hope led me to her bed, stripping my clothes off as she did. It didn't take long until we were both naked. She was so beautiful, I didn't understand why she was so self-conscious. Our kissing was getting more intense by the minute. Just before things went any farther, I pulled away from her.

"Are you sure, Hope? I don't want you to rush into anything. Not after what happened last time," I said, breathing heavily.

She kissed me again.

"Dwight, I love you, too. I'm sure," she said to me, as she pulled me closer to her.

As we made love, I couldn't help but be amazed that this woman had come into my life.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

 **Hope:**

Over the next few weeks, as Dwight and I got closer, so did Mila and Duke. I worried about that, because I knew that Mila wasn't going to stay in Haven. But I didn't have too much time to worry about Duke's relationship with my cousin. I had my own issues to worry about.

While the spirits of Haven as a whole had chosen to let me be, there was one that I couldn't shake. Simon Crocker wouldn't leave my dreams alone. He would come after me as I slept, hurting me in every way he possibly could. Some nights, Dwight would wake me because I would start whimpering in my sleep. Other nights, when I was home alone, I'd wake with cold sweats in the middle of the night, afraid to go back to sleep.

Still there were other nights where others would stop Simon in my dreams. It was there I met my grandfather, Roy, who occasionally stopped Simon from attacking me and at least once, Jennifer, the woman Duke loved and lost, stopped him at risk to herself. After the second time she'd saved me, I realized that Simon started hurting Jennifer, telling her that she wasn't good enough for a Crocker because she wasn't even human. I got her away from him, but he grabbed me again. I told Jennifer to go haunt Duke's boat because as a spirit, Simon couldn't get onto the boat, but I'd open it briefly for her to get on. She reluctantly left.

"I'll get to that thing and keep her away from my children," Simon growled at me as he gripped my wrists tighter.

"Neither Duke nor myself consider you our father. I never knew you and Duke always hated you," I said to him.

He slapped me in the face harder than he had during the ritual.

"I'm not your father? Is that what you think?" he asked, clearly getting more agitated and losing control of himself by the second. "Then there are _no_ lines that I can't cross with you, now are there?"

He looked at me with a glint in his eyes and I was more scared of Simon than I'd ever been. In my dream, Simon did the one thing that I had never experienced before… he raped me. I couldn't process what was going on. Even though I denied the truth of it, he was technically my father, and he was raping me. Suddenly, he was pulled away from me.

"Get out of here, Hope," the man I recognized from the visions the spirts gave me as Wade said. "NOW, HOPE! I'M NOT SURE HOW LONG I CAN KEEP CONTROL OF MYSELF AND STOP HIM TOO!"

Suddenly, I was awake and in my room. I never wanted to sleep again.

 **Duke:**

Things with Mila and I were going pretty good, but I knew they wouldn't last, so I wouldn't let myself get attached. One morning, I woke in the middle of the night, feeling a cold chill on the Cape Rouge. Getting out of bed, I started walking around the boat trying to figure out what was going on. After 15 minutes of searching but finding nothing, I got back into bed. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was _off,_ like someone was _watching_ me. In the morning, as I sat down to breakfast with Mila, I told her about the experience.

"There's a spirit on your boat, Duke," she said as nonchalantly as if she was saying she wanted her coffee spiked.

"What?" I asked in shock.

"A spirit. A scared one, by what I can feel, actually."

"Should I be worried?"

"Ask Hope. She would have had to let the spirit onto the boat for it to be here. Only she can give you anything else."

"Great," I said downing my coffee. "Do you mind…"

"If I ghost-sit while you go talk to my cousin? No. Go find out what's going on. Don't think I didn't notice you getting up and being kinda freaked out in the middle of the night."

I gave Mila a kiss.

"Thanks, Mila."

I left the Cape Rouge, getting into my truck to drive to Hope's. When I got there, I found her on the deck outside the apartment staring out over the water. She didn't even notice me at first.

"Hope?" I called to her, nudging her back to me.

She jumped out of her skin before she realized it was me and calmed down.

"Duke… Sorry, I didn't hear you come up the stairs," she said, trying to cover up her nerves.

"Hope… are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because you didn't even notice I was here for one. And you jumped when I tried to get your attention," I said looking at my sister closely, noticing she looked scared, haunted. "Have you been sleeping?"

Hope wouldn't answer or look at me.

"Hope? _Have_ you been sleeping?"

Still, no answer. So I got down to her height in front of her. When I looked at her, she had tears in her eyes.

"Hope… what's wrong?"

"I'm not sleeping, Duke. Simon won't leave me alone. He keeps coming for me. The other spirits have left me alone since the ritual, but Simon says that I'm his and that doesn't apply to him."

"What has that bastard done to you?"

"It doesn't matter. But Roy, Wade, and even Jennifer have gotten me away from him on nights when Dwight wasn't with me to hear me whimpering in my sleep."

"How can he be stopped?"

"Right now? He can't. I would need ancient power to stop him. And, even though I'm recovered from the ritual, my magick isn't fully recovered enough to do that."

"So you don't sleep alone."

"I can't have Dwight stay over _every_ night. He has his daughter to look after."

"So then come back to the Rouge."

"Sorry, but I don't want to know about the sex life my brother is having with my cousin," she said with a smile.

"Then McHugh…"

"Is not my personal bodyguard, contrary to popular belief, Duke."

"But…"

"I'll figure out how to deal with it," she said before changing the subject. "So what brings you over here so early, because it wasn't my bad dreams, Big Brother."

I let it go, knowing that she had closed the door on the conversation. She wouldn't go any further into the conversation, no matter how hard I tried. So I wouldn't try… I didn't want to upset her while she was already so shaken up. I gave in and decided to tell her why I was there.

"Mila sent me to talk to you," I started.

"Why? Is everything okay?"

"Actually, that's what we wanted to know, Hope. Last night I felt a cold chill on the Rouge, something I've never felt before. At breakfast I brought it up to Mila and she just nonchalantly tells me you let a ghost on my boat. Why would you do that? Especially without talking to me?"

Hope looked down at her hands for a minute before getting up and going into the apartment. I followed her inside.

"It's Jennifer, Duke," she said bluntly. "And I opened the barrier on your boat between this world and the spirit world to protect her. I didn't have time to tell you."

"Wait. Jennifer… _my Jennifer_? Jennifer Mason?"

"Yes, Duke. One and the same. I'm sorry. I wish I could have talked about it with you, especially since you and Mila have been in… well, whatever your relationship is, and this might make that awkward. But she was in trouble. I'm not sure if it was just Simon or what, but he definitely attacked her after she helped me. When I got her away, he said he'd find a way to get to that thing and keep her away from his kids," Hope answered.

"Simon did what?" I asked getting angry.

"He hurt her, Duke. I'm not sure of the extent, but she was scared and still tried to protect me. I wouldn't let her. I sent her to the Rouge, because Simon can't get onto the boat. I'm sorry, Duke. I just wanted to protect her considering she tried to protect me and I know how much she _still_ means to you."

Hope was right. No matter what I tried to do to get over Jennifer, I wasn't sure I ever would. She pulled me back from the brink of losing myself to the Crocker Curse, showing me I was still a good man. When I lost her, I lost myself. Every day, my heart hurt for her and I was sure now that my sister saw through my façade.

"Can Simon get to her on the Rouge?"

"No," Hope started. "Not unless he possesses someone close to us to get onto the ship. I think it will take him a bit to get _that_ specific detail… that he can't just possess anyone."

"What about her crossing over like most dead people?"

"I'm not sure what happens to her. You said she wasn't born _here._ I'm not sure what would happen to her spirit if I release her. I _do_ know she seems to be holding onto you as much as you're holding onto her."

"Hope, you _can't_ bring her back. It could kill you. Bringing _me_ back nearly killed you and I wasn't dead and buried at sea for months."

"But I can tell how happy she makes you, Duke."

"So does having a little sister, Hope. I'd never forgive myself if you died to bring her back to me."

Hope started playing with her mother's talisman, a habit she'd picked up when she got lost in thought.

"Should I call Dwight? I don't just want to run on you, but I left Mila…"

"I'm okay, Duke. Go. I'm a big girl, remember?"

"It's hard to forget that, Hope. I never knew you as a kid," I said sadly.

I left her at her apartment, not sure that I should. But we did agree that we would give each other space when we asked for it. It wouldn't help me to argue with her more.

 **Dwight:**

"Hey, McHugh," I said to my best friend as he came into my house. "What can I do ya for?"

"I wanted to talk to you, Dwight… About Delia."

"What about Lia?" I asked, worried he was going to tell me she was pregnant with a baby Crocker or something.

"You know you're my best friend, right, Dwight?"

He was stalling. I was getting the urge to hit him. I wasn't sure if I would hold myself together longer than he would, but one of us was gonna crack first. The question at this point was, would he have a few broken bones when it happened?

"What about it? What does that have to do with Delia?" I asked him warily.

"We started dating. After Hope woke up. I'm still not 100% sure _how_ it happened, but it did. And I'm not gonna lie, Dwight, I like being with her," he said, and I pushed him against the wall by his throat.

"Careful what you say next, or else I may not be so careful with where my forearm slips."

"Dwight, relax! I'm not using her or anything like that! She's tried to move everything that fast, but I couldn't, not with your sister!"

"Are you honestly telling me you have _not_ had sex with my twin sister?" I snarled at him.

"No, Dwight! I haven't! Most of the time she seems to _really_ want to, she also seems _really_ drunk! I'm not gonna do that with _anybody_ when they're not in the mind to know what they're trying to consent to. That's as good as rape and I would never do that! You know me better than that, Dwight!" he said defensively and I let him go because I _did_ know him better than that.

"Lia's getting drunk? A lot?" I asked.

"More than most people do at least," he told me.

"McHugh, do whatever you can to keep her sober. Hope confided something in me and I don't want it getting around this town," I said.

"What is it, Dwight?"

"Apparently, my sister is very… _sexual_ when she gets drunk."

"I already figured that out."

"Yes, but if you don't keep an eye on her… McHugh, she'll let someone take advantage of her. Hope noticed it seven or eight years ago. The first time Delia asked her to go out with her and some of the other attendings."

"So when she was in her residency she realized this about Delia? And she didn't turn her in and get her license pulled?"

"No. She tried to keep her away from the bars," I explained. "Hope has been looking out for Delia since long before her Trouble activated, McHugh. When the Gull reopened, she warned me about this because she was worried that Lia was drunk with Duke. When I got pissed off, she explained the problem. We've tried to keep this to a minimal number of people. Basically, until now, it was me, Hope, and Duke, because they were together. Now that you're with her, you need to know if you're gonna protect my sister, McHugh."

"Why _did_ Duke and Delia split? She gets pretty annoyed any time she sees him in town or hears anything about him."

"Honestly? I'm not sure on the details. All I know is that the day we did the ritual to stop the spirits from attacking Hope, Delia ran off as soon as the two of them woke up. When I asked him why, he told me the spirits showed him he was bad for her so he ended things," I said. "I was too stunned for words and then Hope started whimpering and bleeding more. But I never thought Duke Crocker, of all people, would actually break up with someone because he found out that he was _bad_ for them."

"I wonder what the hell those spirits showed him… I mean, was it even real… what they showed him? Because from what Hope had told us about the spirits, they had a real hard-on for torturing anyone with Crocker blood. Crocker Curse or not, they were evil incarnate as far as these spirits were concerned. I'm not Duke's biggest fan, but even I can admit, he's not the dick he used to be before he died. I don't know if it is the fact that the Crocker Curse and all the Troubles he collected are gone or if its Hope that changed him, but he's a different man," McHugh said.

"I know. Even I've seen that since I've been spending so much time around him because of Hope. And he's really good with Lizzie. I never would've pegged Duke Crocker as being responsible with kids."

"It only makes you wonder more, doesn't it?" McHugh asked.

"Delia will never talk about it."

"Maybe you can get Hope to get Duke to talk about it?"

"I doubt it. It was a rule between the four of us. Our relationships were just that. They weren't any of our siblings' business."

"It's worth a shot."

"I'll think about it."

 **Hope:**

I boarded Duke's smaller boat, the one he would have had to have used to take Jennifer's body out for burial at sea. Go to his navigation system I looked through it, looking for any spots that he went to more than once in the last few months. A few came up. After a few minutes, I found what I was looking for, writing down the coordinates before I got off his boat, leaving everything exactly as I'd found it.

 **Duke:**

Over the last two weeks, if Hope wasn't with me or Dwight, she was keeping herself busy between work or personal business as she called it. I was a little suspicious, especially since she would take Mila with her when she would disappear for a few hours, both of them coming back exhausted. But I knew better than to ask Mila about it. We may have some kind of relationship, but her loyalty was to her family above all else. I was pretty sure she would kill to protect them. She sure as hell didn't seem the kind of woman to hold the same moral questions about hexing a person that Hope did.

Finally, the day had come that Mila was leaving. Early in the morning, before Hope and I would typically do morning yoga, the two of them had disappeared. Again, I knew better than to ask, and honestly, I didn't want the last time that Mila and I had together to be arguing over something I knew she wasn't going to tell me. When they did come back, we did morning yoga together before Hope went back to her place to shower and change, leaving Mila and me some time alone before she left that afternoon. We were meeting Hope and Dwight for lunch before Mila left. Until then, we were alone.

We went below decks, and not wanting to presume anything, I offered to let her shower first. She pulled me in with her. That began a morning of incredible sex. I took her in every way I possibly could. She pushed me to my limits sexually and I was in ecstasy inside of her. I lost count of how many times we'd made each other come by the time we realized we really did need to shower and get ready to meet Hope and Dwight. Neither of us were overly interested in stopping, but we also knew she needed to go back to Massachusetts that afternoon. So I pounded her as hard as I could with her bent over my bed, making her cry out my name as I did. When she started to spasm around my cock, I felt myself start to release into her and it felt amazing. I finally pulled out of her after we both finished, and had her get in the shower.

When we got to the restaurant, Dwight and Hope were sitting at a booth, their backs to us. They were looking at something we couldn't see. As we got closer to them, we saw pictures of them on a hike on one of the islands off the coast. Even I had to admit, the two of them were cute together… My baby sister, the Beauty, and Sasquatch, the Beast.

"Oh look, Mila," I said. "It's Beauty and the Beast."

Mila looked at the phone and laughed.

"You're mean sometimes, Duke," she said to me.

"Really, Big Brother? You're going to be mean to my boyfriend when we're paying for lunch?" Hope asked me.

I had no comeback.

"Hello to you too, Crocker," Dwight said to me.

"You know, Sasquatch, there are _two_ Crockers in town now, technically," I said. "So are you talking to me or my Baby Sister when you say that?"

"I don't call Hope by her last name, Crocker, so obviously I'm talking to _you_ ," Dwight said to me.

"Really? So no pet names for my sister?" I asked, teasingly and Hope started to turn pink in her cheeks, which was impressive since we had matching olive complexions.

"Enough about that," Hope said, handing Mila a box. "Mila, this is from me, Dwight, and Lizzie. Stay safe on your many travels, Cousin."

Mila opened the box and in it was a throw blanket with intricate artwork on it. The design reminded me a bit of Hope's pendant. But there was a bright sun on it with a man, it was obviously Greek.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Apollo," Mila said in awe.

"Wait, the healer that is looking after Hope?" I asked confused.

"He is also the patron god of travelers, thieves, the sun, among other things," Mila explained, still looking at the throw blanket in awe. "Where did you get this, Hope?"

"Lizzie and I made it," Hope said. "She picked the picture we used out of the less-nude portrayals of Apollo, and then Dwight bought the supplies. I taught Lizzie how to do needlepoint to help me with the design, and then I put it all together. Obviously, when it was completed, I blessed it for you."

Mila got up and hugged both Dwight and Hope.

"I will cherish this always," she said to them. "Please give Lizzie a hug and kiss for me. Tell her I love it and thank you?"

"Of course, Mila," Dwight said. "I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to hear you love the blanket so much. Those two worked so hard on it."

It was a fairly normal lunch after that. When it was over, Mila packed the blanket in with the rest of her belongings. She said goodbye to Dwight and Hope, who left before Mila did, leaving us to say a private goodbye.

"So, this is it," Mila said to me.

"Yes," I said to her, kissing her, "it is. It was fun while it lasted, but we knew it would never last."

"I know," she replied. "But it was nice to pretend for a while. To stay in one place, have a steady relationship. Thank you, Duke, for showing me that. I'll never forget you."

I was suddenly confused.

"Why are you thanking me? You're acting like you've never been in a steady relationship."

"I haven't. Not like what we've had for what? Over a month? I'm never in one place that long," she replied wistfully.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because of _my_ curse," she replied.

"You're cursed?" I asked incredulously.

"Since the day I was born. If I'm lucky, and I ever have children, they will not have my fate," Mila said.

"Why have you been cursed since the day you were born?"

"My mother, she broke her marriage vow to her husband, my step-father. He's my father in every sense of the word, and has never treated me as anything but his true child, but everybody knows he is not my true father. My real father, the man who can't acknowledge me as his daughter, was actually Penny's high priest… Her fiancé. Unfortunately, he was a high priest of Zeus."

"So, what does that mean?"

"My mother sleeping with a high priest of Zeus, breaking her own marriage vow to do it… it angered Zeus' consort, Hera. _She_ is the one who placed the curse on me for my mother's misdeeds. My punishment is to serve to remind my mother of the consequence of breaking the vow of marriage," Mila said, barely looking at me.

"What do you mean?"

"I am Hera's weapon, to be used as she wishes. I am not allowed the joy of a relationship that can ever lead to a marriage, because my mother broke her vow. However, I go where she sends me, making others who have broken their marriage vows feel her wrath. And sometimes, it is against my own family," Mila said.

"So that is why you weren't on the east coast when Hope first went down?"

"Yes. I was in California. Hera had sent me there a few weeks prior. By the time she released me and told me what had happened to Hope, she had already been unconscious for almost a week. At that point I needed to get back to the family to gather supplies and information before I could get up here to you."

"You understand what I went through before Hope came into my life, don't you?" I asked her.

"In a lot of ways, I do, Duke Crocker. And I would never wish this on anyone. I'm glad that my cousin was able to break your curse. Maybe one day, Hera will feel that I have paid enough for my mother's indiscretions. I know that my step-father petitions her for my freedom all the time. But unless and until that day comes, I am in her service, cursed to be her weapon. And now, I have to go. I only have two days until I know she will call on me again. I'm starting to feel her pull on me again, which means she will be sending me on her crusade soon. I want to see my step-father and maybe my actual father before I do have to go."

I gave Mila one last kiss and let her go.

 **Hope:**

It had been a week since Mila left. I still hadn't been sleeping much. Suddenly, there was a knock on my apartment door. When I pulled the curtain back, it was Duke. He had been coming over earlier every day since Mila had gone. I could tell he wasn't dealing well with her leaving.

"Hey, Duke," I said as I let him in and he handed me a cup of coffee. "How are you feeling?"

At first he hadn't said anything to me. He just stared at me. I knew there was something on his mind since the afternoon Mila left, but he wouldn't say what it was.

"Did you know?" he asked me.

"Know what?"

"Did you know that Mila is cursed?" Duke asked me.

I took a deep breath. I was shocked that Mila had told him. She had never talked about it with anyone outside of the family before.

"Yes. I did," I replied to him. "It happened before I was even born, Duke."

"Why didn't you tell me before…?"

"That's not my story to tell, Duke. And besides, we agreed to stay out of each other's relationships."

"Can't anyone help her? Isn't there a way to make that… that…"

"Careful about finishing that sentence, Duke," I warned him. "I love you and I want you to be happy, but if you finish that sentence, that may be out the window for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Hera is the _goddess_ of marriage among other things. She is one of the Olympian gods. Much like Poseidon and Artemis, two of the ancient powers I called on for the protection spells I was using before the ritual. To top it off, she is Zeus' consort, which makes her _Queen of Olympus_ , Duke. Many gods can be temperamental, and you don't want to get on their bad side. Insulting them is a surefire way to do just that," I explained before I softened. "I'm not saying I don't feel for Mila. I don't think she should have to pay for her mother's infidelities. But, only Zeus himself can force Hera to free Mila from her servitude unless Hera frees her on her own. I mean, deals can be made to try to make a deal for Mila's freedom, but it would be a faustian deal… Anyone who made a deal for Mila would be doing so with a near-guarantee of being screwed over by one or more Olympians. And if you think you can pull a fast one on a god, think again. If they realize you played them, things will be worse for you and Mila."

"So there is really no way to help her?"

"I know her step-father constantly petitions Hera for her freedom. Other than that, I can try to think of something else."

"Thank you, Hope. I know your magick is still recovering, but I appreciate it. Even if Mila and I can't be together, I hate the idea that I'm free of my curse and not only may she never be, but there is a possibility of her children being cursed as well."

"I'll see if I can think of anything. No promises, and even if I can think of anything, it may not be anything Mila will agree to."

"I understand. It means more to me that you're trying. I know you've spent your life focused on learning how to help me, but your cousin needs your help just as much."

"Alright, Duke. I already agreed."

We hung out for a little longer and then Duke left for the day. When I left for work, I put my supplies in the trunk of my car. Duke didn't know my magick was a lot more replenished than he thought. He also didn't know where I disappeared to in a lot of my free time… Carpenter's Knot… Which I had bought from the City of Haven, with just some of the money I had made since I had finished medical school. The island was now my sacred space, perfect for rituals or anything else I needed to do.

After work, I got into my car and drove to the marina. The boat that I had also purchased was docked far from the Cape Rouge. It was late and Beetee promised me she wouldn't tell Duke about either my boat or my activity. Once I had boarded my boat, I checked my equipment. Satisfied that all the equipment I would need was properly functioning, I set out, the coordinates of my destination in my navigation system.

It took me a while to reach where I needed to go. When I finally reached it, I dropped anchor, turned on the search light on my boat, and tested my oxygen tank one last time. I holstered two knives to my wetsuit, grabbed an underwater flashlight, and jumped into the water.

It took me almost forty minutes to find what I was looking for. Once I did, it took me another ten to detangle it from the ocean floor, and then another five to carefully reach the surface without giving myself the bends. Using the ropes I had left loose on the back of my boat, I tied it to the back of my boat and then got myself aboard again. Finally, I pulled it aboard.

From there, I took my boat to Carpenter's Knot. Once there, I used the gurney from the hospital that I "forgot" on the island to move my cargo from the boat to the basement of the resort house. Inside the basement, I performed a preservation spell. I cut the bag, and saw the ocean-decayed body of Jennifer Mason. I lit a candle that Mila and I had blessed weeks ago, that would slowly reverse the decomposition her body had suffered. With the preservation spell I had also cast, it would prevent Jennifer's body from decomposing any further as the magick in the candle reversed months of decomposition before I could take the next step.

 **Duke:**

It had been almost two weeks since I had talked to Hope about Mila's curse. She hadn't said anything to me about it and I hadn't really seen much of her since. I caught her as she was coming home when I was heading in to make sure everything was in order at the Gull for the night. She looked pale and exhausted. Alarm bells started going off in my head.

"Hope?" I called to her.

She didn't answer me the first time.

"Hope?" I called to her again, this time a little louder, finally getting acknowledged. "Are you okay, Sis?"

"Yeah, Duke," she replied, stifling a yawn. "I'm just tired."

"And you look pale. Are you sure you're just tired?"

"Yeah. I'm okay."

"Is Dwight keeping you up all night?"

"Good gods, Duke! Not everyone thinks about sex non-stop!" she exclaimed, her face turning red.

"There goes some color!"

She threw her shoes at me. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but they smelled like the open ocean.

"Hope?"

"What, Dwight?" she asked, annoyed this time.

"Have you and Dwight been going out to sea for day trips or something?"

"No, why?" she replied, lying to me for the first time.

"No reason, Sis. Go get some sleep," I said and she turned around and went upstairs.

I went inside and called Sasquatch.

"What is it, Duke?" he answered.

"When was the last time you saw Hope?"

"About a week, almost two, actually, why? She said she's got a lot on her plate right now. It's not unusual with work and everything."

"Have the two of you ever gone out to the open seas… gone scuba diving or anything?"

"No. I'm not even sure that Hope knows how to dive. Why? What's going on, Duke?"

"I'm pretty sure Hope is up to something and I think my sister just lied to me for the first time."

"Why?"

"I was joking on her, making her turn colors, saying she's as tired as she is because you're keeping her up all night. She just got home and she looks exhausted and _pale_ , Dwight."

"Wait, she _just_ got home?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Gloria told me that Hope's shift at the hospital ended at six this morning. Unless she stopped somewhere before she went home, she should've been home more than eight hours ago," Dwight told me. "Why did you ask about scuba diving and spending time on the open ocean?"

"Because, when I started teasing her, she threw her shoes at me. They smell like the open ocean."

"I haven't taken her out. So if you haven't…"

"I haven't. It looks like Hope is up to something. I think one of us needs to talk to Beetee. Maybe you should do it, Dwight. Do you think McHugh could watch Lizzie just in case Beetee knows something that she shouldn't hear?"

"Yeah. I'll give him a call."

"Thanks. Let me know when you know something."

"I will."

I was worried about Hope now. She was pale and exhausted. There were a lot of hours unaccounted for in her day and she was just letting me believe she was with Dwight when she wasn't. I started getting the Gull ready for that night. When we opened, Dwight showed up.

"What did Beetee have to say?"

"She said that Hope owns a boat, Duke. A 50 Cantius Yacht that's docked on the opposite end of the marina from the Rouge, specifically to keep it hidden from you. According to Beetee, Hope's been spending a lot of free time out on that boat," Dwight said.

"Did you get on board and check the navigation system?" I asked, worried that my sister was doing something stupid.

"Couldn't. By the time Beetee finished talking to me and then showed me where it should be docked, the boat was gone, Duke."

I came out from behind the bar and ran up the stairs to Hope's apartment. When there was no answer, I used the master keys I had as her landlord to open the door. She wasn't home.

"Where could she be?" I asked desperately.

Dwight was already dialing her. I looked at him to see if she picked up. He shook his head at me.

"Straight to voicemail. Either she turned off her cell or she's in a deadzone."

I pulled my cell out of my pocket and called Nathan.

"Wuornos," he said when he picked up.

"Nathan, its Duke. I need your help."

"What's going on, Duke? What's wrong?"

"Its Hope. I don't know where she is. I'm with Dwight. He just came back from the marina and found out that she owns a boat and has been spending a lot of time in it, but Nathan, Hope is looking pale and exhausted. I'm worried she's up to something she shouldn't be and I don't have the first clue where to look for her if she's not with Dwight."

"Alright, Duke. Give me a little bit of time. I'll see up what other records she has in Haven. If she owns the boat, there's going to be records of that, so let's see if she owns anything else you don't know about. Maybe that will give you a direction to look in."

"Thanks, Nathan."

 **Hope:**

It was time. I entered the basement and looked at her body. She looked like she was just sleeping. There were no more signs of her skin being bloated from her burial at sea. She no longer had any signs that showed she had ever died. Her body didn't even smell like a corpse.

" _Are you sure you should be doing this, Hope?"_ Jennifer asked me.

"Yes, Jennifer," I replied to the woman my brother loved, that I had been protecting for weeks, most of it on Carpenter's Knot. "My brother needs you. Mila was a distraction, but her telling him about _her_ curse just made him start to go to a dark place again. I'm not sure I can bring him back from that. I _know_ you can."

" _But you look so weak, so tired. He'll be mad if anything happens to you because you were doing this for him."_

"I know he will, but a lot of the harder spellwork was already done by me and Mila, before I ever went and found your body. The candle had been gradually charged with the spells that would reverse the state your body was in back to this state, so I could bring you back. Once it was fully charged, I just needed your body and to light the candle to start the spell."

" _Then why do you look so worn out?"_

"The preservation spell and my day to day spells took a lot more out of me than I thought they would. Don't worry. I'll be fine. Probably unconscious for a little bit, but I'll be fine nonetheless, Jennifer."

" _If you're sure you know what you're getting us both into."_

"I am. So prepare yourself. You've been dead for months. It's going to be a shock for you to be alive again."

With that, I started the resurrection ritual.

 **Duke:**

It took Nathan almost an hour, but he finally got back to me and Dwight.

"Did you find anything, Nathan?" I asked as soon as I picked up.

"Yeah, actually, I did," he replied. "Duke, did you know that your sister bought Carpenter's Knot?"

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah, apparently not long after she came out of the coma from her ritual. She bought the island… in cash."

"Anything else?"

"Other than the boat? Those are the main things. I'm still digging into it, just to make sure, but her buying the Knot, Duke. I thought that was something that was pretty major."

"It is, Nathan. I'm heading out there. If you can't reach me or Dwight, leave us a message or a text if there is anything else you find."

"Gotcha."

I hung up on Nathan and turned to Dwight.

"Did you know my sister bought Carpenter's Knot?" I asked him.

He looked at me in shock.

"No. I had no idea she even knew about Carpenter's Knot."

"She paid for it in cash, not long after she woke up from the ritual. I'm going out there to check for her. Are you coming?"

"Do you really think you need to ask?"

We ran downstairs to my boat. When we got to Carpenter's Knot we made our way to the resort house. From outside of the house, I could see lights in the basement. I ran the rest of the way, Dwight at my side, rushing to get to the basement.

 **Hope:**

I could feel the spell working. I could feel Jennifer's body responding to my magick, my mother's magick, and Nyx, who was lending me the strength to perform this ritual. Jennifer's heart was starting to pump blood in her veins again. Her brain was starting to give off electrical impulses. Finally, she drew her first breath. Nyx took her leave of the ritual and Apollo took her place, helping me to heal Jennifer so there would be no lasting effects from death.

In the distance I could hear Dwight and Duke calling my name. They sounded worried about me. I couldn't respond. I was too far into the ritual. I needed to keep my focus. At this point, I had no idea what would happen to me _or_ Jennifer if I lost focus. So I ignored them, even though I could hear and feel them getting closer to me. Finally, Jennifer was ready.

" _It's time," I said to her._

" _Time?" she asked._

" _Your body is ready for you. Reunite with your body and it will awaken, Jennifer."_

" _I'm nervous, Hope."_

" _You're going to be fine."_

Jennifer's spirit returned to her body.

 **Dwight:**

Duke and I burst into the last room of the basement. As we did, Hope hit the floor, exhaustion having taken over. I ran right to her and checked her pulse. It was steady and strong. She wasn't in a coma, she was just out cold. I looked at Duke to tell him the good news.

"Duke? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" I asked him.

"Hi, Dwight," a voice said behind me.

I turned around to see who was talking to me.

"Jennifer? You're alive?" Duke barely got out in his shock.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

 **Duke:**

"Jennifer, how…?" I asked, in shock. "How are you…?"

"Alive?" she completed my question, to which I just nodded. "Hope brought me back. She's been working on it for like a month, Duke. Before that, she said Mila helped her with some spell work so it wouldn't be as dangerous for her to do this for her."

 _Hope_ , I thought suddenly and looked for her, finding her in Dwight's arms.

"Is she…?" I asked him, fearing the worst.

"She's not dead. In fact, her pulse is strong, Duke. I'm pretty sure she's just passed out from exhaustion," he said, looking as relieved as I suddenly felt.

"Thank god. I never would've forgiven myself…" I started.

"She knew that, Duke," Jennifer said, stepping closer to me, reaching for my face. "She knew how angry you would be with her if anything bad happened to her, but she insisted on doing this anyway. I tried to ask her if she was sure, and she told me that you _needed_ me… especially since you found out about Mila."

"What do you mean?" I asked Jennifer.

"Hope is working on figuring out how to help Mila, Duke. But she is worried that you're slipping into a dark place she can't pull you back from, one that she thinks _I_ can," Jennifer said. "I guess she wants me to be here for you while she figures out how to help Mila, like she told you she would."

"But she's so weak right now, Jennifer," Dwight spoke up. "Last time she over-exerted herself like this and kept pushing her boundaries we nearly lost her. And that was just with the spirits of Haven. What is she facing to help Mila?"

Duke was looking between me and Jennifer.

"Well, Crocker? What is Mila in the middle of that you asked Hope to find a way to help her?" Dwight asked again.

"She's been cursed since the day she was born… by the Olympian goddess Hera, consort to the Olympian god Zeus. I asked Hope to see if there was any way to break Mila's curse, which she's under because her mother cheated on her husband and that resulted in Mila's conception," I finally answered Dwight.

 **Hope:**

I knew I was out cold. The thing was, I didn't know _where_ I was.

"You're on your way to the Olympian Throne Room," the man I was with told me.

"You're one of the Olympians, aren't you?" I asked. "That's how you knew what I was thinking."

"Yes, I am, Hope. My name is…" he started.

"Hermes, I'm guessing, Messenger of the gods?" I finished for him. "You were sent to bring me?"

"You are as smart as Apollo has said you were," he said to me.

"Why am I being brought to Olympus? Am I being brought before the entire Olympian Council?" I asked.

"I can't tell you everything. I can tell you that you are _not_ meeting in front of the entire Council. You _are_ meeting in front of Lords Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and Apollo, and Lady Hera. That is all the information I can give you."

At that point, Hermes pulled up outside of the Olympian Throne Room. I felt tiny compared to everything on Olympus. My nerves were going, but I refused to let them. I took a deep breath, steeled my nerves, and made my way up the steps, where I waited for Hermes. When he met me, he led me into the Throne Room.

"Lord Zeus, Lady Hera, Lord Poseidon, Lord Apollo, Lord Hades, I present to you the witch you have called for, Dr. Hope Corey Crocker," Hermes said, as he motioned for me to step forward.

I stepped ahead of Hermes, in front of the five Olympians, and bowed to them. Showing them respect by bowing was something you just did in front of gods, as you would royalty.

"My lords and lady," I said. "I am honored to be in your presence… though I am uncertain for the cause of this honor."

"We would like to discuss with you some of your actions," Hades said. "Such as resurrecting your brother, Duke Crocker, after he had been dead for at least a day."

"As well as your quest to find a way to free my weapon," Hera said. "Your cousin has been mine since before she was born. She was born since she was _conceived_ , since I _allowed_ her birth."

 **Dwight:**

"Duke, what do you mean you asked Hope to try to find a way out of Mila's curse?" I asked. "It sounds like a contract with one of the ancient powers she _used_ to help protect all of us when she was dealing with the spirits. You saw how much channeling their energy took out of her! You're basically asking her to go _against_ these ancient powers in order to free Mila! _That could kill her!_ Hope is powerful and capable of many things, Duke, but she's not a god!"

"I didn't think about it. I just felt so bad for Mila and she's Hope's cousin who woke her up after the spirits tried to kill her… I didn't think about what would happen…" Duke stammered.

"Dwight!" Jennifer shouted. "Stop it! Duke obviously feels terrible about what you just made him realize. Hope is _his baby sister_. You don't need to beat him up like this. I know you love her, but would she want you to break her brother? You're both scared here. Hope just resurrected me, but that doesn't mean she's just going to immediately put a plan into motion to get Mila freed. Have some faith in her. Hope is strong and she knows what she's doing. Trust in that."

"Jennifer's right, Duke. I'm sorry. I'm just scared for Hope. I do love Hope more than I love anyone except Lizzie. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to her."

"I'm sorry, Dwight. I'm so sorry, Hope. I shouldn't have asked you to do this," Duke said as he got closer to Hope and started stroking her hair. Then, looking at me while he continued to stroke her hair he said, "Can you ask Delia to keep her at her house? Just until she wakes up? This way she's not alone and Delia can hook up an IV and anything she needs to monitor her vitals? Tell her it will be paid for, just give you the total and you'll get her the money? I know she still hates me…"

"Why does my sister hate you, Duke? I know the four of us said we'd stay out of each other's relationships, but you want me to ask Lia to help Hope instead of you calling her yourself. I'll do it, you know I will, but why is she so pissed off at you?" I asked.

"When we did the ritual, the spirits showed me that I had been _hurting_ Delia, Dwight. I had no idea that I was being that rough with her because she never told me that I was hurting her or else I would've stopped, I swear it. I don't get off on causing a woman pain she _doesn't_ like. When they put us together in the same vision, I guess to see what I would do, knowing I'd hurt her, she tried to distract me when I called her on it. I stopped her and put her in an ice bath, getting her to explain _why_ she let me hurt her, which isn't my story to tell you, by the way, but it was clear she wasn't going to stop letting me from hurting her, Dwight. So, realizing that I was bad for her, I ended our relationship. I couldn't keep hurting her, Dwight. Especially not since I _knew_ I was hurting her at that point. I care about Delia and couldn't do it. So, I let her go, so I couldn't physically hurt her anymore. She's been pissed at me since," Duke said, his eyes and voice so haunted I couldn't even bring myself to be pissed off at himself.

I remembered how lost Duke looked when he came out of the ritual with Lia. This sounded right. Why would he lie to me about causing my sister physical pain knowing I'd hurt him? Something was wrong with Lia, but clear and present was Hope.

"I believe you, Duke," I said to him. "Why would you lie about hurting my sister to my face? I'll call her and make sure Hope is taken care of. You and Jennifer get out of here. Head back to The Gull and then to the Rouge. I'll bring Hope back to the mainland on her boat and then call Lia. I'll let you know when I know anything."

"Thanks, Dwight," Jennifer said, seeing Duke was in a state of shock.

 **Hope:**

"We shall start by discussing the fact that you have resurrected three people, Dr. Crocker," Hades started, "though only one is of concern to us. Your brother, Duke, died by another mortal's hands. He comes from a long line of murderers and torturers, as do you on your father's side. Technically, he belongs to the underworld. Yet, you brought him back. Why shouldn't I take your soul now in his place?"

I looked at Hades. He looked angry. I tried to keep my fear of my father's mention deep inside.

"Lord Hades," I began, "I meant no disrespect to either you or your kingdom by resurrecting my brother. Honestly, I never considered it might anger you. From the time I was a child, I was raised knowing the vision of my future that my mother had before her death."

"Apollo," Zeus interrupted me. "Her mother was one of your followers, was she not?"

"Yes, Lord Zeus. Penny Corey. Her entire family use all of us as patrons of theirs for different things. Penny had the gift of foresight and healing, so she was one of mine," Apollo replied.

"Hermes," Lord Zeus said looking at him, "go retrieve Penny Corey from the underworld. Give her enough clarity of her life to answer our questions regarding this vision."

With that, Hermes left me alone with the Olympians. They did not say a word to me for a few moments, until Hermes returned… with my mother.

"Mom," I couldn't stop myself from choking out.

"My dear Hope," she said to me, but she didn't dare move towards me. Instead she looked to the Olympians and bowed. "My lords and ladies. Lord Hermes said you had some questions for me?"

"Yes," Hades started. "Your child is claiming you left information about a vision of her future before your death. Is this true?"

"Yes, Lord Hades, it is. Not long after I stopped seeing what _my_ future was meant to hold and I realized I was pregnant, I realized I would die in childbirth. It was after I accepted my fate that I began seeing my daughter's future," Mom said.

"What was this vision you saw for your daughter?" Hades asked.

"I saw that she had a brother, where her father was from. I knew that was Haven, Maine because I did my best to find out everything about him after what I learned during our one interaction…" Mom started but was cut off by Hera.

"Where you cheated on your fiancé, did you not?" Hera asked.

"I did, Lady Hera, but I was honest with him. I told him the truth of what I had done the following day, long before I knew I was pregnant or that I would die in childbirth. I gave him a choice, to break off our engagement because of my actions and only be each other's high priest and priestess, or try again, and put the past behind us. He chose to put the past behind us as I had done for him after he cheated on me for a few months with my cousin," Mom said. "I had done something wrong in my relationship, Lady Hera, and I knew it. So the first chance I got, I told him and he chose to give me a second chance."

Hera had a huffy look on her face.

"Please continue about the vision for Hades," Zeus said.

"Yes, Lord Zeus," Mom said. "The vision I saw that at some point when her brother was an adult, she would need to leave the family to travel to Haven to resurrect him. His resurrection was going to be vital for at least two reasons."

"And what would those be, Penny?" Hades asked.

"For one, Lord Hades, Hope needed to resurrect him at the exact time the Troubles and aether were being sucked back into the Void with Croatoan. By doing this, all of the Troubles that would have remained within his body due to the Crocker Curse, which is what made his family line killers, would have stayed in this world. The second, the police chief needed him. He would have lost his best friend and his lover within days if the resurrection hadn't happened. He wouldn't have handled it. A third reason was the former police chief was finally reunited with his twin sister, who he thought was dead and hadn't seen since they both left Haven when they were 18."

"Nobody would have been able to access those Troubles from her brother, Penny," Hades said. "I don't think the other reasons are sufficient to steal a soul from my kingdom."

"Lord Hades, if _anybody_ from the world the aether came from returned to this world, they have been able to extract the Troubles from Duke Crocker. They also might have been able to figure out a way to move the Crocker Curse from his family line to another. Hope's resurrecting Duke prevented that from ever being a problem. She resurrected him as the Troubles were being pulled out of everybody. He is now as normal as he was before his family Curse hit him," Mom said.

"Is this true, Dr. Crocker?" Hades asked me.

"Yes, Lord Hades. That is the vision I had been told about when I was starting my senior year of high school when I was 14. It was when they explained why my magickal training had always been fast-tracked… they never knew how long I would be with them before I would have to leave, that only I would know when it was time. So when I got to Haven, I found Duke's body and made sure the timing was precise, starting it when the aether starting gathering in one spot in town. I saw the aether from the Troubles leaving his body as his body was coming back. By the time he was fully resurrected he was Trouble and Crocker Curse-free," I said.

"And you're sure of this?" Hades asked.

"Yes, My Lord," I replied. "I've seen, as a result of the spirits of Haven, what Duke was like when the Troubles and the Crocker Curse were at their worst with him. He is nothing like that anymore. He is my caring older brother who I love very much and would do anything for."

"Including take on the Olympian Council?" Zeus asked.

"Lord Zeus?" I asked confused.

"Hermes! Take Penny back to the Underworld where she belongs," Hades said.

"Mom!" I screamed as I turned in time to see her disappearing with Hermes as she reached towards me.

"It doesn't feel good to have something ripped away from you, does it, Dr. Crocker?" Hera asked, as I fought to keep my boiling blood from getting the best of me.

"No, Lady Hera, it doesn't. But she has been lost to me my entire life," I replied, keeping my tone even.

"You have always been a faithful follower, Hope," Apollo said to me. "Why do you now want to take on the Olympian Council as Lord Zeus has asked?"

"I have no idea what you speak of, Lord Apollo," I said.

Poseidon gripped his hand into a fist and I felt like I was being crushed. It was hard to breathe.

"Do not lie to us, Girl! Especially not after you have called on Apollo and I personally to help you often!" Poseidon demanded as he released his fist and apparently his grip on me.

 **Dwight:**

I brought Hope to Delia's house. She had the equipment to set her up on an IV and to monitor her vitals in the guest room on the first floor. Not long after I helped her set up the machines and we saw that Hope's vitals were stable, they started going nuts. Hope looked like she was being crushed. She was whimpering in pain.

"What the hell is going on with her, Dwight?" Lia asked me.

"Honestly, I don't know. When we got to her she collapsed, but she was in the same shape she was in when we got her hooked up to the machine. This is new," I said, struggling not to panic. "Her pulse was strong and steady. She wasn't showing any signs of pain. I don't know what just happened."

"I thought you said the spirits left her alone."

"They did, except Simon Crocker, but he can't get into your house, my house, or the Cape Rouge. They're all protected."

"Then this has to be something stronger than the spirits, Dwight."

I didn't know what to think. Then a lightbulb went off in my head.

"Shit!" I exclaimed. "Lia, get oxygen here in case of an emergency. Have Gloria bring a portable x-ray machine to check Hope since she was just crying out in so much pain."

"What's going on, Dwight?"

"Hope has only told me of one thing stronger than the spirits in Have, Lia."

"What?"

"The ancient powers… gods, like the Olympians. She called on a few of them for healing and protection work since she's been here."

"Wait, Hope is working with the gods?"

"She has been. But Duke asked her to do something. It could be considered challenging them. But it was to help her cousin, Mila. She's apparently cursed, Lia."

"So Crocker asked his little sister to do something that could be considered going against her patrons as a witch. Dwight, the gods could decide to _kill her_ for having such hubris!" Lia exclaimed. "If they've pulled her from her body and they've got her in some sort of trial… if they find her guilty, her punishment could be death and eternal damnation in the fields of punishment of the underworld."

"Then we need to hope that she can prove that she isn't trying to challenge them, Lia. Because I can't lose her. I love her too much."

 **Hope:**

I was still struggling to breathe, but I had gotten myself upright again after what Poseidon had done to me.

"Do you intend to challenge the Council of Olympus?" Poseidon growled at me.

"Lord Poseidon, I mean no disrespect to any of the Olympians. You have been my Patrons since I was a child. Please, I do not know what you are speaking of, me challenging the Council," I pled with him, trying to prepare myself for another of his attacks on me, which he was clearly about to unleash.

"Brother, stop," Zeus said. "Look at the child. She is quivering, pleading with you to believe her. Perhaps she is not lying."

"Zeus!" Hera exclaimed. "She's conspiring…"

"Hera!" Zeus cut her off. "We will hear her out before we choose whether or not she was committing treason against Olympus. Hestia!"

A woman who was by the fire stepped forward.

"Please tend to our guest," Zeus said.

"Of course, Lord Zeus," Hestia said.

She started to lead me out of the Throne Room.

"Hermes! Get the entire Council together. We will hear Dr. Crocker's side in no more than 45 minutes," Zeus said.

"You must have done something awful for Zeus to call the Council to session," Hestia said to me as she put a plate of food in front of me.

"I don't know what it is, Lady Hestia, though thank you for your kindness," I replied.

"Queen Hera believes you are conspiring against her on something," Hestia supplied.

 _Hera… Mila!_ It was the only thing I could think of.

"Oh no!" I blurted out.

"What is it, Child?" Hestia asked. "Are her accusations true?"

"No, it's not that, Lady Hestia," I said. "My cousin, Mila, has been cursed by Hera her entire life. Her step-father, who raised her and treats her as his own, petitions Hera to release her all the time, to no avail. The fact that Mila has been cursed since before I was born was always kept to the Corey family… until a few weeks ago when she told my brother, Duke."

"What does that have to do with Hera's accusations?"

"He asked me if there was anything I could do to help free Mila of Hera's curse, like I had freed him of the Crocker Curse. I told him, no promises, but I would try to think of something, but ultimately only Zeus or Hera had any real power to release Mila. The only thing I can think of as me challenging the Council would be me trying to free my cousin from Hera, Lady Hestia."

"I can see how Hera would take that as treason. Mila, in her eyes, is her property, as was your mother."

"Wait, _my mother_? What do you mean by my mother, Lady Hestia?"

"She had already cursed Mila because her mother had cheated on her husband with your mother's fiancé. When your mother cheated on him with your father and you were conceived, it was Hera who decided you would be allowed to live, but Penny would pay for her infidelity with her life."

My heart broke. I had never thought about Mila's curse like that. The possibility of my mother's death would be another form of curse.

"Am I cursed, too, Lady Hestia?" I asked meekly.

"Only time will tell, Child. You are in a serious relationship, are you not?"

I nodded.

"Don't cheat on him."

"I love him too much. He is only the second man I've ever been with, Lady Hestia. He would have been the only man if I'd known the truth about the first, Lady Hestia."

"Hope?" Hermes said from the doorway. "We're ready for you."

"Good luck, Child. Stay true to yourself. Don't lie, and justice shall prevail," Hestia said to me.

"Thank you, Lady Hestia," I said as I bowed to her before following Hermes back to the Throne Room.

 **Duke:**

"You know that you couldn't have understood what you were asking your sister to do when you did it, don't you?" Jennifer asked me as she stroked my hair.

We were lying in my… _our_ bed. She was trying to comfort me. I should be basking in her. She was back from the dead. Instead, I was dreading the possibility that I may have put Hope in mortal danger.

"I should have thought about it, Jennifer. I saw what the spirits did to her because they were mad at her. She told me she went to these ancient powers in order to protect us from the spirits until she was ready to face them. Dwight found out from the spirits that the more she called on them, the more she was vulnerable to the spirits, so obviously, working against them would be even more dangerous," I said. "Dwight was right. I shouldn't have asked her without thinking it through."

"I know you feel bad, Duke, but as someone who had been cursed, you wanted to help someone else who has been cursed for her _entire life_. I think that's sweet. I'm sure that regardless of you asking Hope, she wouldn't act without knowing what her consequences were. Even when she resurrected me, she knew that she was exhausted, but she knew what the worst-case scenario was. She doesn't just jump into something so major. You can't blame yourself for your sister's actions. She's a big girl and she knows what she can and can't do."

"I told her not to resurrect you because it could kill her."

"She and Mila did most of the groundwork magick together weeks ago. It was ready in a candle. That magick made my body ready for the resurrection spell. She took it in small doses. Hope is a competent witch. Don't underestimate her."

"I love my little sister, Jenn. What if my request gets her _killed_?"

"You won't, Duke. Don't think like that. Hope will be fine. She's tougher than you think. She had to be to grow up as fast as she did."

"What do you mean?"

"Being the youngest kid in your class straight through medical school, it's not easy. People can be mean, Duke."

I thought about it. When I had first mentioned to Hope that she couldn't work hexes, she had mentioned she never said she _couldn't_ , but that she had to decide whether it was worth the karmic points. She said sometimes she had decided it was actually worth it.

"You're right."

Jennifer kissed me and my thoughts started to clear. I realized, this must be why Hope went out of her way to bring Jennifer back to me even though I told her not to… She realized how much I needed Jennifer to help me keep a clear head. In my head, I said a silent prayer to whichever ancient power was looking over Hope's destiny in that moment, they would not punish her for me asking her to look into helping her cousin.

 **Hope:**

Hermes led me into the Throne Room before he took his seat in his throne. I looked around and saw the 12 Olympians, Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Artemis, Apollo, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Demeter, Hermes, and Dionysus. Hades, who wasn't one of the 12 Olympians and apparently felt he settled his quarrel with me, had left to return to his kingdom in the Underworld. Looking at the Olympians, I was intimidated, but I knew that I hadn't actually done anything wrong. There was a podium in the center of the room. Zeus pointed to it and I took my place there. When I got there, I bowed to him and Hera before bowing to the other Olympians. When I finished, Zeus stood.

"We are here because this child, Dr. Hope Corey Crocker, who has called on us as Patrons for so many years, is accused of Treason against the Olympian Council by my queen, Hera," Zeus said.

There were gasps around the room. Some of the Olympians looked appalled. Others looked impressed. I didn't know what to think.

"Hera," Zeus said. "would you like to tell the Council your charge against the girl?"

Hera stood up from her throne, nodding at her husband who was taking his seat.

"My fellow Olympians, we have been patron gods of the Corey family for generations. They have been keepers of magick, healers, seers, and for the most part, faithful followers. However, before this child was born, her mother and her cousin both broke the vows of fidelity in their relationships. Her mother's cousin broke the vow of marriage by sleeping with this child's mother's fiancé. The union resulted in a child, who as a punishment for her infidelity to her husband, I claimed as mine. She has been my servant, my weapon of wrath upon those who have broken their wedding vows for years now. The child's own mother cheated on her own fiancé, the man who fathered my servant, with a man whose family line was cursed to make them all killers of the Troubled in Haven, Maine. Their union, between a witch and a murderer, resulted in our follower right here. She has lived her life without her mother, Penny, who has been in the Underworld with Hades since right after the child's birth.

"Now, it has come to my attention that Dr. Crocker here, is conspiring against the Olympian Council. After being asked by her older brother, a member of the murderous line of her father's, she has decided to find a way to get my servant, Mila away from me. She has known about Mila's curse most of her life and never tried to help her, but now she wants to take her away from me. I accuse treason!"

The murmurs got even louder in the Throne Room. I was worried. I knew Hephaestus and Ares were both Hera's sons with Zeus, but Ares was closer to her. Demeter was her sister. Poseidon was her brother. Aphrodite might vote whatever way Ares did. And if Athena felt that I was actually plotting against the Council she would definitely support Hera. I couldn't be sure who would believe Hera regardless of what I had to say.

"Enough!" Athena spoke up. "Zeus, may I ask Dr. Crocker a few questions?"

"Of course, Athena," Zeus replied.

"Dr. Crocker, you stand accused of treason for conspiring to take Hera's servant. Let's start by you answering, were you planning on stealing your cousin from Hera?"

"No, Lady Athena. My brother asked me if there was anything I could to do help end Mila's curse. I told him it is complicated, really the only ones with the power to end it are Zeus and Hera, but I could _try_ to think of anything, a deal or something else, that might work to make Hera _consider_ freeing my cousin. Even with me telling him I could try to think of something, I told him that it was a long shot without a guarantee."

"So, you are telling me that you, in fact, were not planning on challenging Zeus or Hera for the freedom of your cousin's soul?"

"No, Lady Athena. In fact, when Lord Hermes brought me here my body had just blacked out from exhaustion. I wasn't a threat of doing _anything_ to _anyone_."

"Why had you blacked out?"

"I resurrected my brother's ex-girlfriend who was from another dimension. She died months ago and was being hurt by my father, Simon Crocker, which I realized when she risked her safety to stop him from coming for me in my dreams, Lady Athena."

"Your body is unconscious right now. You have no energy to face off against a demigod, let alone a god, am I right?"

"Yes, My Lady."

"Why should I believe you?" Athena asked.

"Because she has never done anything that could seriously hurt anyone, especially not with her magick," Apollo said.

"My brother is right," Artemis agreed. "I have watched her for many years, especially since she had no mother. She may have used her magick when she shouldn't have a bit during puberty when older students, such as boys, were picking on her, but that was the most harm she has ever caused with her magick. She did it knowing the consequences and accepting them. She protects and heals people. Most recently she called on me to protect the maiden daughter of her boyfriend. She is a child, not even a teenager, and I was more than happy to help protect her."

"She calls on me to help with healing while she is working at the hospital. Whenever she has a patient who is not going to die, she calls on me to help them heal just a little faster to keep their spirits up. I am happy to help her," Apollo replied.

"And she has called on me, to help protect her brother and his ship. Ultimately, it gave her a safe place to heal from what those spirits in that town did to her during that ritual, but she loves her brother so much. He has changed so much since she came into his life. He is not the murderer that he was before she resurrected him. He is unsure of himself, whether he trusts himself around people. For a while, he used her as a shield to keep people at a distance from him. They do so much together. She has brought out the good in him, Athena," Poseidon said.

"But she is conspiring against us! Because of this brother you claim she brings the good out in!" Ares exclaimed.

"She loves her brother, Ares! She wants to try to make him happy!" Aphrodite rebutted.

"These are all logical arguments, her actions make sense," Demeter cut in. "Sister, are you _sure_ that you did not mistake her wanting to search for an answer to her brother's question as her coming after us?"

"Are you saying you don't believe me, Sister?" Hera asked Demeter, her voice rising.

"No, Sister, of course not. I'm just clarifying that there is no misunderstanding. I can see why you would see this as treason, Sister. But trying her for treason, the consequences on this loyal follower would be permanent, undoable, Sister. I just want to make sure that you are not taking her search for answers as conspiracy against the Council. Because they are two very different things. We do not want to ruin any lives unnecessarily."

"Demeter is right, My Queen," Zeus said gently.

"How about we do this the easy way?" Hermes asked.

"And what way is that?" Dionysus asked. "Because that sounds good to me. I'm getting bored."

"We ask Hecate to brew truth potion for both of them. I bring her a strand of each of their hair so it is specific to each of them. They each take their truth person and then we question them again."

"Hera?" Zeus asked.

Hera huffed, but didn't answer the question.

"Dr. Crocker?" Zeus looked at me.

"I'll take a truth potion if that will make you believe I have no intention of trying to overthrow you guys in order to get Mila's freedom. You've all been good to my family for generations. I wouldn't disrespect you like that. If you want, I'll brew the truth potion myself, in front of the Council of course."

"I appreciate the offer, but I would prefer Hecate do it," Zeus said. "Hera, will you consent to the potion?"

"Fine!" she huffed and stormed out of the Throne Room.

"The Council is adjourned until Hecate has brewed the potion," Zeus said as he got up and went after Hera.

"It takes courage to stand up to Hera, not to lose your temper with what she said to you about your mother, and still stick to your clear strategy of telling the truth," Athena said as she came over to me. "I've watched over you for years. You're quite intelligent. It's a quality I value. Good job, Hope."

"Thank you, Lady Athena."

"I'm glad that you agreed to the truth potion," Apollo said coming over to me. "It will make this all easier to prove as a simple misunderstanding. You're going to be fine, Hope. And I'm sorry about Penny. I had no idea that Hera changed her fate."

He gave me a hug.

 **Dwight:**

Gloria brought the portable x-ray machine over and they did x-rays of Hope's entire body. She had several inexplicably broken bones. Gloria set the bones and then as Lia cast them, Gloria led me outside.

"What happened to her?" Gloria demanded.

"She blacked out on Carpenter's Knot," I said.

"Last time I checked, blacking out didn't break random bones. Those x-rays looks like she was crushed, Dwight. So what happened to her, Dwight?"

"Honestly, Gloria? I'm not sure. I brought her here, Lia and I got her hooked to an IV and the machine to monitor her vitals, because her pulse was steady and strong when we were on Carpenter's Knot after she blacked out from exhaustion…"

"She blacked out from exhaustion?"

"She resurrected Jennifer."

"She did _what_?"

"Yeah, Duke is with her on the Rouge right now. But even when we got her here and hooked up to the machines her vitals were fine. She was breathing fine. Then it was like something out of a Freddy Krueger movie, Gloria. It was like something was crushing her. After a few minutes her body went limp like whatever was crushing her let her go."

"What the hell is going on with her now?"

"When I know for sure, you'll know, Gloria."

"Alright, Big Guy. I'm leaving. Check in with your sister and then you should go home to Lizzie."

"I will, Gloria. Thanks for everything."

I went back to Lia.

"Is she alright?"

"Now that she's casted and braced?" Lia asked. "Yeah. She's breathing normally again and her vitals have evened out. Go home to Lizzie, Dwight. I'll send McHugh over to you to watch Lizzie if anything changes."

"Thanks, Lia," I said as I hugged my sister and leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I owe you for this."

"No, you don't. I wasn't there when Hope needed me after the ritual. I'm not making that mistake again," Lia said as she walked me to the front door.

 **Hope:**

Hecate entered the Throne Room. She carried two flasks. One was significantly larger than the other. That had to be Hera's truth potion. She gave Hera her flask first. Then she brought the smaller flask to me.

"Thank you, Lady Hecate," I said, bowing to her, and she gave me a small smile.

"Now," Zeus began. "Before we adjourned, both Hera and Dr. Crocker agreed to take truth potions in order to expedite this process. Ladies, please drink the potion."

Hera glared at me, but I drank the truth potion without another word. Immediately I could feel a change in me. I felt the potion taking effect in me. It was at that point, after a stern look from Zeus, that Hera finally drank the truth potion she had been given. Zeus waited a few minutes. Then he made Hera my size and had her stand at a podium next to mine. Finally, all the Olympians became human-sized in their thrones and Zeus resumed the trial.

"Now, who has a question for either of them?" Zeus asked.

"Hera," Aprhodite began, "did Hope actually conspire against us to steal her cousin from you?"

"She is planning to find a way to free her!" Hera exclaimed.

"Yes, but is she conspiring, or is she just trying to find a way to work with you or Zeus to get you to agree to let her cousin go?" Athena asked.

"I don't know!" Hera replied.

"Hope," Ares started with a sneer, "how were you going to get Mila away from Hera?"

"As of yet, I had no plan. The only thing I had agreed to was to try to think of something. I had been running in my mind, but nothing I would act on without having time to sit down and see how the idea would fully flesh out when I had more time to think about it. So, as of right now, I have no plans to get my cousin away from Hera, Lord Ares."

"Do you mean to tell us that you have been accused of treason and you do not even have a fully formed idea to attempt?" Zeus asked me, glaring at Hera.

"I suppose so, Lord Zeus. I do so many things with my time, I don't always have time to just plan something as major as freeing Mila. I work in a hospital and see many patients every day that I'm there. I work at the morgue, so my friend can go back into retirement soon. I help protect my loved ones with my magick. I try to soothe their pain however I can, like bringing my brother's love of his life back right before I was brought here. I was already working on bringing her back when he asked about Mila's curse. I didn't have much time to think about it since then, so no, I had no plans, Lord Zeus."

"Hera, what do you have to say to your accused?" Lord Zeus asked.

Hera turned her back to me.

"As a result of these turn of events, all charges of treason will be dropped against you, with the apologies of the Olympic Council, Dr. Crocker. In addition, for the trouble this has caused you, I will give you a way to earn your cousin Mila's freedom from Hera."

"You will, Lord Zeus?" I asked.

"Yes, you will be given a series of challenges by the gods of Olympus. You will not know who will come to you, when, or what the challenge will be, but should you pass these challenges, your cousin shall be granted her freedom," Zeus said.

The Faustian deal. One I literally had no choice but to accept.

"That's gracious, My Lord. Thank you. Thank you all for your kindness and graciousness," I said.

Suddenly, I woke up in my body.

"Owwww!" I exclaimed upon feeling the pain that was there, obviously from Poseidon attacking me. Then I remembered the Faustian deal. "Oh fuck…"


End file.
